Frequency agile generator for a surgical instrument

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a system comprising a generator and a surgical instrument, wherein the generator is configured to deliver a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to the surgical instrument; and the surgical instrument comprises: an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, a circuit configured to steer the RF component to the RF energy output and steer the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output, wherein the generator is configured to adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a characterization of a circuit component of the circuit.

PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/235,260, titled GENERATOR FOR PROVIDING COMBINED RADIO FREQUENCY AND ULTRASONIC ENERGIES, filed Sep. 30, 2015, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/235,368, titled CIRCUIT TOPOLOGIES FOR GENERATOR, filed Sep. 30, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/235,466, titled SURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH USER ADAPTABLE ALGORITHMS, filed Sep. 30, 2015, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to ultrasonic surgical systems, electrosurgical systems, and combination electrosurgical/ultrasonic systems for performing surgical procedures such as coagulating, sealing, and/or cutting tissue. In articular, the present disclosure relates to a frequency agile generator for a surgical instrument.

BACKGROUND

Ultrasonic surgical instruments are finding increasingly widespread applications in surgical procedures by virtue of the unique performance characteristics of such instruments. Depending upon specific instrument configurations and operational parameters, ultrasonic surgical instruments can provide substantially simultaneous cutting of tissue and hemostasis by coagulation, desirably minimizing patient trauma. The cutting action is typically realized by an-end effector, or blade tip, at the distal end of the instrument, which transmits ultrasonic energy to tissue brought into contact with the end effector. Ultrasonic instruments of this nature can be configured for open surgical use, laparascopic, or endoscopic surgical procedures including robotic-assisted procedures.

Some surgical instruments utilize ultrasonic energy for both precise cutting and controlled coagulation. Ultrasonic energy cuts and coagulates by vibrating a blade in contact with tissue. Vibrating at high frequencies (e.g., 55,500 times per second), the ultrasonic blade denatures protein in the tissue to form a sticky coagulum. Pressure exerted on tissue with the blade surface collapses blood vessels and allows the coagulum to form a hemostatic seal. The precision of cutting and coagulation is controlled by the surgeon's technique and adjusting the power level, blade edge, tissue traction, and blade pressure.

Electrosurgical devices for applying electrical energy to tissue in order to treat and/or destroy the tissue are also finding increasingly widespread applications in surgical procedures. An electrosurgical device typically includes a hand piece, an instrument having a distally-mounted end effector (e.g., one or more electrodes). The end effector can be positioned against the tissue such that electrical current is introduced into the tissue. Electrosurgical devices can be configured for bipolar or monopolar operation. During bipolar operation, current is introduced into and returned from the tissue by active and return electrodes, respectively, of the end effector. During monopolar operation, current is introduced into the tissue by an active electrode of the end effector and returned through a return electrode (e.g., a grounding pad) separately located on a patient's body. Heat generated by the current flowing through the tissue may form hemostatic seals within the tissue and/or between tissues and thus may be particularly useful for sealing blood vessels, for example. The end effector of an electrosurgical device may also include a cutting member that is movable relative to the tissue and the electrodes to transect the tissue.

Electrical energy applied by an electrosurgical device can be transmitted to the instrument by a generator in communication with the hand piece. The electrical energy may be in the form of radio frequency (RF) energy that may be in a frequency range described in EN 60601-2-2:2009+A11:2011, Definition 201.3.218—HIGH FREQUENCY. For example, the frequencies in monopolar RF applications are typically restricted to less than 5 MHz. However, in bipolar RF applications, the frequency can be almost anything. Frequencies above 200 kHz can be typically used for MONOPOLAR applications in order to avoid the unwanted stimulation of nerves and muscles which would result from the use of low frequency current. Lower frequencies may be used for BIPOLAR techniques if the RISK ANALYSIS shows the possibility of neuromuscular stimulation has been mitigated to an acceptable level. Normally, frequencies above 5 MHz are not used in order to minimize the problems associated with HIGH FREQUENCY LEAKAGE CURRENTS. However, higher frequencies may be used in the case of BIPOLAR techniques. It is generally recognized that 10 mA is the lower threshold of thermal effects on tissue.

In application, an electrosurgical device can transmit low frequency RF energy through tissue, which causes ionic agitation, or friction, in effect resistive heating, thereby increasing the temperature of the tissue. Because a sharp boundary is created between the affected tissue and the surrounding tissue, surgeons can operate with a high level of precision and control, without sacrificing un-targeted adjacent tissue. The low operating temperatures of RF energy is useful for removing, shrinking, or sculpting soft tissue while simultaneously sealing blood vessels. RF energy works particularly well on connective tissue, which is primarily comprised of collagen and shrinks when contacted by heat.

Other electrical surgical instruments include, without limitation, irreversible and/or reversible electroporation, and/or microwave technologies, among others. Accordingly, the techniques disclosed herein are applicable to ultrasonic, bipolar or monopolar RF (electrosurgical), irreversible and/or reversible electroporation, and/or microwave based surgical instruments, among others.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a system comprising a generator and a surgical instrument is provided, wherein the generator is configured to deliver a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to the surgical instrument; and the surgical instrument comprises: an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, a circuit configured to steer the RF component to the RF energy output and steer the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output, wherein the generator is configured to adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a characterization of at least one circuit component of the circuit.

In another aspect, a method for providing a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component by a generator to a surgical instrument is provided, the surgical instrument comprising an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output and a circuit, the method comprising: performing characterization on at least one circuit component of the circuit; adjusting a frequency of the RF component based on a result of the characterization; delivering, by the generator, the combined signal to the surgical instrument; steering, by the circuit, the RF component to the RF energy output; and steering, by the circuit, the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output.

In yet another aspect, A generator for providing a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to a surgical instrument is provided, the generator being configured to: perform characterization on at least one circuit component of a circuit of the surgical instrument for steering the RF component to an RF output and steering the ultrasonic component to an ultrasonic output; adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a result of the characterization; and deliver the combined signal to the surgical instrument.

FIGURES

The novel features of the described forms are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The described forms, however, both as to organization and methods of operation, may be best understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates one form of a surgical system comprising a generator and various surgical instruments usable therewith;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the combination electrosurgical and ultrasonic instrument shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the surgical system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a model illustrating motional branch current in one form;

FIG. 5 is a structural view of a generator architecture in one form;

FIG. 6 illustrates one form of a drive system of a generator, which creates the ultrasonic electrical signal for driving an ultrasonic transducer;

FIG. 7 illustrates one form of a drive system of a generator comprising a tissue impedance module;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a combined radio frequency and ultrasonic energy generator for delivering energy to a surgical instrument;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a system for delivering combined radio frequency and ultrasonic energy to a plurality of surgical instruments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a communications architecture of a system for delivering combined radio frequency and ultrasonic energy to a plurality of surgical instruments;

FIG. 11 illustrates a communications architecture of a system for delivering combined radio frequency and ultrasonic energy to a plurality of surgical instruments;

FIG. 12 illustrates a communications architecture of a system for delivering combined radio frequency and ultrasonic energy to a plurality of surgical instruments;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing a combined signal by a generator to a surgical instrument;

FIG. 14 displays an example of a notch filter;

FIG. 15 is an example graph of an analysis of the transfer function of the notch filter in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a plot illustrating adjustment of the RF frequency based on characterization of the steering circuitry;

FIG. 17 provides an illustration of a system configuration for an example circuit topology shown and described with regard to FIGS. 13-16, including metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) switches and a control circuit in the handle, configured to manage RF and ultrasonic currents output by a generator according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18 provides an illustration of a system configuration for an example circuit topology shown and described with regard to FIGS. 13-16, including bandstop filters and a control circuit in the handle, configured to manage RF and ultrasonic currents output by a generator according to one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 19 is an example graph of two waveforms of energy from a generator;

FIG. 20 is an example graph of the sum of the waveforms of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is an example graph of sum of the waveforms of FIG. 19 with the RF waveform dependent on the ultrasonic waveform;

FIG. 22 is an example graph of the sum of the waveforms of FIG. 19 with the RF waveform being a function of the ultrasonic waveform; and

FIG. 23 is an example graph of a complex RF waveform with a high crest factor.

DESCRIPTION

Before explaining various forms of ultrasonic surgical instruments in detail, it should be noted that the illustrative forms are not limited in application or use to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and description. The illustrative forms may be implemented or incorporated in other forms, variations and modifications, and may be practiced or carried out in various ways. Further, unless otherwise indicated, the terms and expressions employed herein have been chosen for the purpose of describing the illustrative forms for the convenience of the reader and are not for the purpose of limitation thereof.

Further, it is understood that any one or more of the following-described forms, expressions of forms, examples, can be combined with any one or more of the other following-described forms, expressions of forms, and examples.

Various forms are directed to improved ultrasonic surgical instruments configured for effecting tissue dissecting, cutting, and/or coagulation during surgical procedures. In one form, an ultrasonic surgical instrument apparatus is configured for use in open surgical procedures, but has applications in other types of surgery, such as laparascopic, endoscopic, and robotic-assisted procedures. Versatile use is facilitated by selective use of ultrasonic energy.

This application is related to the following commonly owned patent applications filed contemporaneously herewith:

-   Attorney Docket No. END7768USNP1/150449-1, titled CIRCUIT TOPOLOGIES     FOR COMBINED GENERATOR, by Wiener et al.; -   Attorney Docket No. END7768USNP2/150449-2, titled CIRCUITS FOR     SUPPLYING ISOLATED DIRECT CURRENT (DC) VOLTAGE TO SURGICAL     INSTRUMENTS, by Wiener et al.; -   Attorney Docket No. END7768USNP4/150449-4, titled, METHOD AND     APPARATUS FOR SELECTING OPERATIONS OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT BASED ON     USER INTENTION, by Asher et al.; -   Attorney Docket No. END7769USNP1/150448-1, titled GENERATOR FOR     DIGITALLY GENERATING ELECTRICAL SIGNAL WAVEFORMS FOR ELECTROSURGICAL     AND ULTRASONIC SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, by Wiener et al.; -   Attorney Docket No. END7769USNP2/150448-2, titled GENERATOR FOR     DIGITALLY GENERATING COMBINED ELECTRICAL SIGNAL WAVEFORMS FOR     ULTRASONIC SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, by Wiener et al.; -   Attorney Docket No. END7769USNP3/150448-3, titled PROTECTION     TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATOR FOR DIGITALLY GENERATING ELECTROSURGICAL     AND ULTRASONIC DIGITAL ELECTRICAL SIGNAL WAVEFORMS, by Yates et al.; -   each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

This application also is related to the following commonly owned patent applications filed on Jun. 9, 2016:

-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/177,430, titled SURGICAL     INSTRUMENT WITH USER ADAPTABLE TECHNIQUES; -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/177,439, titled SURGICAL     INSTRUMENT WITH USER ADAPTABLE TECHNIQUES BASED ON TISSUE TYPE; -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/177,449, titled SURGICAL SYSTEM     WITH USER ADAPTABLE TECHNIQUES EMPLOYING MULTIPLE ENERGY MODALITIES     BASED ON TISSUE; -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/177,456, titled SURGICAL SYSTEM     WITH USER ADAPTABLE TECHNIQUES BASED ON TISSUE IMPEDANCE; -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/177,466, titled SURGICAL SYSTEM     WITH USER ADAPTABLE TECHNIQUES EMPLOYING SIMULTANEOUS ENERGY     MODALITIES BASED ON TISSUE PARAMETERS; -   each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The various forms will be described in combination with an ultrasonic instrument as described herein. Such description is provided by way of example, and not limitation, and is not intended to limit the scope and applications thereof. For example, any one of the described forms is useful in combination with a multitude of ultrasonic instruments including those described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,938,633; 5,935,144; 5,944,737; 5,322,055; 5,630,420; and 5,449,370, which are each incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

As will become apparent from the following description, it is contemplated that forms of the surgical instrument described herein may be used in association with an oscillator unit of a surgical system, whereby ultrasonic energy from the oscillator unit provides the desired ultrasonic actuation for the present surgical instrument. It is also contemplated that forms of the surgical instrument described herein may be used in association with a signal generator unit of a surgical system, whereby electrical energy in the form of radio frequencies (RF), for example, is used to provide feedback to the user regarding the surgical instrument. The ultrasonic oscillator and/or the signal generator unit may be non-detachably integrated with the surgical instrument or may be provided as separate components, which can be electrically attachable to the surgical instrument.

One form of the present surgical apparatus is particularly configured for disposable use by virtue of its straightforward construction. However, it is also contemplated that other forms of the present surgical instrument can be configured for non-disposable or multiple uses. Detachable connection of the present surgical instrument with an associated oscillator and signal generator unit is presently disclosed for single-patient use for illustrative purposes only. However, non-detachable integrated connection of the present surgical instrument with an associated oscillator and/or signal generator unit is also contemplated. Accordingly, various forms of the presently described surgical instruments may be configured for single use and/or multiple use with either detachable and/or non-detachable integral oscillator and/or signal generator unit, without limitation, and all combinations of such configurations are contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

In one aspect, the desired wave shape may be digitized by 1024 points, which are stored in a table, such as, for example, a Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) table with a field programmable gate array (FPGA) of the generator. The generator software and digital controls command the FPGA to scan the addresses in this table at the frequency of interest which in turn provides varying digital input values to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit that feeds to power amplifier. This method enables generating practically any (or many) types of wave shapes fed into tissue. Furthermore, multiple wave shape tables can be created, stored and applied to tissue.

According to various aspects, a method comprises creating various types of lookup tables in memory such as lookup tables generated by Direct Digital Synthesizers (DDS) and stored within Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), for example. Waveforms may be stored in the DDS table or tables as particular wave shapes. Examples of wave shapes in the RF/Electrosurgery tissue treatment field include high crest factor RF signals, which may be used for surface coagulation in an RF mode, for example, low crest factor RF signals, which may be used for deeper penetration into tissue in an RF mode, for example, and waveforms that promote efficient touch-up coagulation, for example.

The present disclosure provides for the creation of multiple wave shape tables that allow for switching on the fly, either manually or automatically, between the wave shapes based on tissue effect desired. Switching could be based on tissue parameters, such as, for example, tissue impedance and/or other factors. In addition to a traditional sine wave shape, in one aspect a generator may be configured to provide a wave shape that maximizes the power into tissue per cycle. According to one aspect, the wave shape may be a trapezoid wave, a sine or cosine wave, a square wave, a triangle wave, or any combination thereof. In one aspect, a generator may be configured to provide a wave shape or shapes that are synchronized in such way that they make maximizing power delivery in the case that both RF and ultrasonic energy modalities are driven, either simultaneously or sequentially. In one aspect, a generator may be configured to provide a waveform that drives both ultrasonic and RF therapeutic energy simultaneously while maintaining ultrasonic frequency lock. In one aspect, the generator may contain or be associated with a device that provides a circuit topology that enables simultaneously driving RF and ultrasonic energy. In one aspect, a generator may be configured to provide custom wave shapes that are specific to a surgical instrument and the tissue effects provided by such a surgical instrument. Furthermore, the waveforms may be stored in a generator non-volatile memory or in an instrument memory, such as, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). The waveform or waveforms may be fetched upon instrument connection to a generator.

With reference to FIGS. 1-5, one form of a surgical system 10 including a surgical instrument is illustrated. FIG. 1 illustrates one form of a surgical system 10 comprising a generator 100 and various surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 usable therewith, where the surgical instrument 104 is an ultrasonic surgical instrument, the surgical instrument 106 is an RF electrosurgical instrument 106, and the multifunction surgical instrument 108 is a combination ultrasonic/RF electrosurgical instrument. FIG. 2 is a diagram of the multifunction surgical instrument 108 shown in FIG. 1. With reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2, the generator 100 is configurable for use with a variety of surgical instruments.

According to various forms, the generator 100 may be configurable for use with different surgical instruments of different types including, for example, ultrasonic surgical instruments 104, RF electrosurgical instruments 106, and multifunction surgical instruments 108 that integrate RF and ultrasonic energies delivered simultaneously from the generator 100. Although in the form of FIG. 1, the generator 100 is shown separate from the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 in one form, the generator 100 may be formed integrally with any of the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 to form a unitary surgical system. The generator 100 comprises an input device 110 located on a front panel of the generator 100 console. The input device 110 may comprise any suitable device that generates signals suitable for programming the operation of the generator 100.

FIG. 1 illustrates a generator 100 configured to drive multiple surgical instruments 104, 106, 108. The first surgical instrument 104 is an ultrasonic surgical instrument 104 and comprises a handpiece 105 (HP), an ultrasonic transducer 120, a shaft 126, and an end effector 122. The end effector 122 comprises an ultrasonic blade 128 acoustically coupled to the ultrasonic transducer 120 and a clamp arm 140. The handpiece 105 comprises a trigger 143 to operate the clamp arm 140 and a combination of the toggle buttons 134 a, 134 b, 134 c to energize and drive the ultrasonic blade 128 or other function. The toggle buttons 134 a, 134 b, 134 c can be configured to energize the ultrasonic transducer 120 with the generator 100.

Still with reference to FIG. 1, the generator 100 also is configured to drive a second surgical instrument 106. The second surgical instrument 106 is an RF electrosurgical instrument and comprises a handpiece 107 (HP), a shaft 127, and an end effector 124. The end effector 124 comprises electrodes in the clamp arms 142 a, 142 b and return through an electrical conductor portion of the shaft 127. The electrodes are coupled to and energized by a bipolar energy source within the generator 100. The handpiece 107 comprises a trigger 145 to operate the clamp arms 142 a, 142 b and an energy button 135 to actuate an energy switch to energize the electrodes in the end effector 124.

Still with reference to FIG. 1, the generator 100 also is configured to drive a multifunction surgical instrument 108. The multifunction surgical instrument 108 comprises a handpiece 109 (HP), a shaft 129, and an end effector 125. The end effector comprises an ultrasonic blade 149 and a clamp arm 146. The ultrasonic blade 149 is acoustically coupled to the ultrasonic transducer 120. The handpiece 109 comprises a trigger 147 to operate the clamp arm 146 and a combination of the toggle buttons 137 a, 137 b, 137 c to energize and drive the ultrasonic blade 149 or other function. The toggle buttons 137 a, 137 b, 137 c can be configured to energize the ultrasonic transducer 120 with the generator 100 and energize the ultrasonic blade 149 with a bipolar energy source also contained within the generator 100.

With reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2, the generator 100 is configurable for use with a variety of surgical instruments. According to various forms, the generator 100 may be configurable for use with different surgical instruments of different types including, for example, the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104, the RF electrosurgical instrument 106, and the multifunction surgical instrument 108 that integrate RF and ultrasonic energies delivered simultaneously from the generator 100. Although in the form of FIG. 1, the generator 100 is shown separate from the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108, in one form, the generator 100 may be formed integrally with any one of the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 to form a unitary surgical system. The generator 100 comprises an input device 110 located on a front panel of the generator 100 console. The input device 110 may comprise any suitable device that generates signals suitable for programming the operation of the generator 100. The generator 100 also may comprise one or more output devices 112.

With reference now to FIG. 2, the generator 100 is coupled to the multifunction surgical instrument 108. The generator 100 is coupled to the ultrasonic transducer 120 and electrodes located in the clamp arm 146 via a cable 144. The ultrasonic transducer 120 and a waveguide extending through a shaft 129 (waveguide not shown in FIG. 2) may collectively form an ultrasonic drive system driving an ultrasonic blade 149 of an end effector 125. The end effector 125 further may comprise a clamp arm 146 to clamp tissue located between the clamp arm 146 and the ultrasonic blade 149. The clamp arm 146 comprises one or more than one an electrode coupled to the a pole of the generator 100 (e.g., a positive pole). The ultrasonic blade 149 forms the second pole (e.g., the negative pole) and is also coupled to the generator 100. RF energy is applied to the electrode(s) in the clamp arm 146, through the tissue located between the clamp arm 146 and the ultrasonic blade 149, and through the ultrasonic blade 149 back to the generator 100 via the cable 144. In one form, the generator 100 may be configured to produce a drive signal of a particular voltage, current, and/or frequency output signal that can be varied or otherwise modified with high resolution, accuracy, and repeatability suitable for driving an ultrasonic transducer 120 and applying RF energy to tissue.

Still with reference to FIG. 2, It will be appreciated that the multifunction surgical instrument 108 may comprise any combination of the toggle buttons 137 a, 137 b, 134 c. For example, the multifunction surgical instrument 108 could be configured to have only two toggle buttons: a toggle button 137 a for producing maximum ultrasonic energy output and a toggle button 137 b for producing a pulsed output at either the maximum or less than maximum power level. In this way, the drive signal output configuration of the generator 100 could be 5 continuous signals and 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 pulsed signals. In certain forms, the specific drive signal configuration may be controlled based upon, for example, nonvolatile memory such as an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) settings in the generator 100 and/or user power level selection(s).

In certain forms, a two-position switch may be provided as an alternative to a toggle button 137 c. For example, the multifunction surgical instrument 108 may include a toggle button 137 a for producing a continuous output at a maximum power level and a two-position toggle button 137 b. In a first detented position, toggle button 137 b may produce a continuous output at a less than maximum power level, and in a second detented position the toggle button 137 b may produce a pulsed output (e.g., at either a maximum or less than maximum power level, depending upon the EEPROM settings). Any one of the buttons 137 a, 137 b, 137 c may be configured to activate RF energy and apply the RF energy to the end effector 125.

Still with reference to FIG. 2, forms of the generator 100 may enable communication with instrument-based data circuits. For example, the generator 100 may be configured to communicate with a first data circuit 136 and/or a second data circuit 138. For example, the first data circuit 136 may indicate a burn-in frequency slope, as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, any type of information may be communicated to second data circuit for storage therein via a data circuit interface (e.g., using a logic device). Such information may comprise, for example, an updated number of operations in which the instrument has been used and/or dates and/or times of its usage. In certain forms, the second data circuit may transmit data acquired by one or more sensors (e.g., an instrument-based temperature sensor). In certain forms, the second data circuit may receive data from the generator 100 and provide an indication to a user (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED) indication or other visible indication) based on the received data. The second data circuit 138 contained in the multifunction surgical instrument 108. In some forms, the second data circuit 138 may be implemented in a many similar to that of the first data circuit 136 described herein. An instrument interface circuit may comprise a second data circuit interface to enable this communication. In one form, the second data circuit interface may comprise a tri-state digital interface, although other interfaces also may be used. In certain forms, the second data circuit may generally be any circuit for transmitting and/or receiving data. In one form, for example, the second data circuit may store information pertaining to the particular surgical instrument 104, 106, 108 with which it is associated. Such information may include, for example, a model number, a serial number, a number of operations in which the surgical instrument 104, 106, 108 has been used, and/or any other type of information. In the example of FIG. 2, the second data circuit 138 may store information about the electrical and/or ultrasonic properties of an associated ultrasonic transducer 120, end effector 125, ultrasonic energy drive system, or RF electrosurgical energy drive system. Various processes and techniques described herein may be executed by a generator. It will be appreciated, however, that in certain example forms, all or a part of these processes and techniques may be performed by internal logic 139 located in the multifunction surgical instrument 108.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the surgical system 10 of FIG. 1. In various forms, the generator 100 may comprise several separate functional elements, such as modules and/or blocks. Different functional elements or modules may be configured for driving the different kinds of surgical instruments 104, 106, 108. For example, an ultrasonic drive circuit 114 may drive ultrasonic devices such as the surgical instrument 104 via a cable 141. An electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116 may drive the RF electrosurgical instrument 106 via a cable 133. The respective drive circuits 114, 116, 118 may be combined as a combined RF/ultrasonic drive circuit 118 to generate both respective drive signals for driving multifunction surgical instruments 108 via a cable 144. In various forms, the ultrasonic drive circuit 114 and/or the electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116 each may be formed integrally or externally with the generator 100. Alternatively, one or more of the drive circuits 114, 116, 118 may be provided as a separate circuit module electrically coupled to the generator 100. (The drive circuits 114, 116, 118 are shown in phantom to illustrate this option.) Also, in some forms, the electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116 may be formed integrally with the ultrasonic drive circuit 114, or vice versa. Also, in some forms, the generator 100 may be omitted entirely and the drive circuits 114, 116, 118 may be executed by processors or other hardware within the respective surgical instruments 104, 106, 108.

In other forms, the electrical outputs of the ultrasonic drive circuit 114 and the electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116 may be combined into a single electrical signal capable of driving the multifunction surgical instrument 108 simultaneously with electrosurgical RF and ultrasonic energies. This single electrical drive signal may be produced by the combination drive circuit 118. The multifunction surgical instrument 108 comprises an ultrasonic transducer 120 coupled to an ultrasonic blade and one or more electrodes in the end effector 125 to receive ultrasonic and electrosurgical RF energy. The multifunction surgical instrument 108 comprises signal processing components to split the combined RF/ultrasonic energy signal such that the RF signal can be delivered to the electrodes in the end effector 125 and the ultrasonic signal can be delivered to the ultrasonic transducer 120.

In accordance with the described forms, the ultrasonic drive circuit 114 may produce a drive signal or signals of particular voltages, currents, and frequencies, e.g., 55,500 cycles per second (Hz). The drive signal or signals may be provided to the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104, and specifically to the ultrasonic transducer 120, which may operate, for example, as described above. The ultrasonic transducer 120 and a waveguide extending through the shaft 126 (waveguide not shown) may collectively form an ultrasonic drive system driving an ultrasonic blade 128 of an end effector 122. In one form, the generator 100 may be configured to produce a drive signal of a particular voltage, current, and/or frequency output signal that can be stepped or otherwise modified with high resolution, accuracy, and repeatability.

The generator 100 may be activated to provide the drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer 120 in any suitable manner. For example, the generator 100 may comprise a foot switch 130 coupled to the generator 100 via a foot switch cable 132. A clinician may activate the ultrasonic transducer 120 by depressing the foot switch 130. In addition, or instead of the foot switch 130 some forms of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104 may utilize one or more switches positioned on the handpiece that, when activated, may cause the generator 100 to activate the ultrasonic transducer 120. In one form, for example, the one or more switches may comprise a pair of toggle buttons 137 a, 137 b (FIG. 2), for example, to determine an operating mode of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104. When the toggle button 137 a is depressed, for example, the generator 100 may provide a maximum drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer 120, causing it to produce maximum ultrasonic energy output. Depressing toggle button 137 b may cause the generator 100 to provide a user-selectable drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer 120, causing it to produce less than the maximum ultrasonic energy output.

Additionally or alternatively, the one or more switches may comprise a toggle button 137 c that, when depressed, causes the generator 100 to provide a pulsed output. The pulses may be provided at any suitable frequency and grouping, for example. In certain forms, the power level of the pulses may be the power levels associated with toggle buttons 137 a, 137 b (maximum, less than maximum), for example.

It will be appreciated that the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104 and/or the multifunction surgical instrument 108 may comprise any combination of the toggle buttons 137 a, 137 b, 137 c. For example, the multifunction surgical instrument 108 could be configured to have only two toggle buttons: a toggle button 137 a for producing maximum ultrasonic energy output and a toggle button 137 c for producing a pulsed output at either the maximum or less than maximum power level. In this way, the drive signal output configuration of the generator 100 could be 5 continuous signals and 5 or 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 pulsed signals. In certain forms, the specific drive signal configuration may be controlled based upon, for example, EEPROM settings in the generator 100 and/or user power level selection(s).

In certain forms, a two-position switch may be provided as an alternative to a toggle button 137 c. For example, the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104 may include a toggle button 137 a for producing a continuous output at a maximum power level and a two-position toggle button 137 b. In a first detented position, toggle button 137 b may produce a continuous output at a less than maximum power level, and in a second detented position the toggle button 137 b may produce a pulsed output (e.g., at either a maximum or less than maximum power level, depending upon the EEPROM settings).

In accordance with the described forms, the electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116 may generate a drive signal or signals with output power sufficient to perform bipolar electrosurgery using RF energy. In bipolar electrosurgery applications, the drive signal may be provided, for example, to electrodes located in the end effector 124 of the RF electrosurgical instrument 106, for example. Accordingly, the generator 100 may be configured for therapeutic purposes by applying electrical energy to the tissue sufficient for treating the tissue (e.g., coagulation, cauterization, tissue welding). The generator 100 may be configured for sub-therapeutic purposes by applying electrical energy to the tissue for monitoring parameters of the tissue during a procedure.

As previously discussed, the combination drive circuit 118 may be configured to drive both ultrasonic and RF electrosurgical energies. The ultrasonic and RF electrosurgical energies may be delivered though separate output ports of the generator 100 as separate signals or though a single port of the generator 100 as a single signal that is a combination of the ultrasonic and RF electrosurgical energies. In the latter case, the single signal can be separated by circuits located in the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108.

The surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 additionally or alternatively may comprise a switch to indicate a position of a jaw closure trigger for operating jaws of the end effector 122, 124, 125. Also, in some forms, the generator 100 may be activated based on the position of the jaw closure trigger, (e.g., as the clinician depresses the jaw closure trigger to close the jaws, ultrasonic energy may be applied).

The generator 100 may comprise an input device 110 (FIG. 1) located, for example, on a front panel of the generator 100 console. The input device 110 may comprise any suitable device that generates signals suitable for programming the operation of the generator 100. In operation, the user can program or otherwise control operation of the generator 100 using the input device 110. The input device 110 may comprise any suitable device that generates signals that can be used by the generator (e.g., by one or more processors contained in the generator) to control the operation of the generator 100 (e.g., operation of the ultrasonic drive circuit 114, electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116, combined RF/ultrasonic drive circuit 118). In various forms, the input device 110 includes one or more of buttons, switches, thumbwheels, keyboard, keypad, touch screen monitor, pointing device, remote connection to a general purpose or dedicated computer. In other forms, the input device 110 may comprise a suitable user interface, such as one or more user interface screens displayed on a touch screen monitor, for example. Accordingly, by way of the input device 110, the user can set or program various operating parameters of the generator, such as, for example, current (I), voltage (V), frequency (f), and/or period (T) of a drive signal or signals generated by the ultrasonic drive circuit 114 and/or electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116.

The generator 100 also may comprise an output device 112 (FIG. 1), such as an output indicator, located, for example, on a front panel of the generator 100 console. The output device 112 includes one or more devices for providing a sensory feedback to a user. Such devices may comprise, for example, visual feedback devices (e.g., a visual feedback device may comprise incandescent lamps, LEDs, graphical user interface, display, analog indicator, digital indicator, bar graph display, digital alphanumeric display, liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, light emitting diode (LED) indicators), audio feedback devices (e.g., an audio feedback device may comprise speaker, buzzer, audible, computer generated tone, computerized speech, voice user interface (VUI) to interact with computers through a voice/speech platform), or tactile feedback devices (e.g., a tactile feedback device comprises any type of vibratory feedback, haptic actuator).

Although certain modules and/or blocks of the generator 100 may be described by way of example, it can be appreciated that a greater or lesser number of modules and/or blocks may be used and still fall within the scope of the forms. Further, although various forms may be described in terms of modules and/or blocks to facilitate description, such modules and/or blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware components, e.g., processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), circuits, registers and/or software components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/or combinations of hardware and software components. Also, in some forms, the various modules described herein may be implemented utilizing similar hardware positioned within the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 (i.e., the external generator 100 may be omitted).

In one form, the ultrasonic drive circuit 114, electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116, and/or the combination drive circuit 118 may comprise one or more embedded applications implemented as firmware, software, hardware, or any combination thereof. The drive circuits 114, 116, 118 may comprise various executable modules such as software, programs, data, drivers, application program interfaces (APIs), and so forth. The firmware may be stored in nonvolatile memory (NVM), such as in bit masked read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory. In various implementations, storing the firmware in ROM may preserve flash memory. The NVM may comprise other types of memory including, for example, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or battery backed random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), and/or synchronous DRAM (SDRAM).

In one form, the drive circuits 114, 116, 118 comprise a hardware component implemented as a processor for executing program instructions for monitoring various measurable characteristics of the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 and generating a corresponding output control signals for operating the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108. In forms in which the generator 100 is used in conjunction with the multifunction surgical instrument 108, the output control signal may drive the ultrasonic transducer 120 in cutting and/or coagulation operating modes. Electrical characteristics of the multifunction surgical instrument 108 and/or tissue may be measured and used to control operational aspects of the generator 100 and/or provided as feedback to the user. In forms in which the generator 100 is used in conjunction with the multifunction surgical instrument 108, the output control signal may supply electrical energy (e.g., RF energy) to the end effector 125 in cutting, coagulation and/or desiccation modes. Electrical characteristics of the multifunction surgical instrument 108 and/or tissue may be measured and used to control operational aspects of the generator 100 and/or provide feedback to the user. In various forms, as previously discussed, the hardware component may be implemented as a DSP, PLD, ASIC, circuits, and/or registers. In one form, the processor may be configured to store and execute computer software program instructions to generate the output signals for driving various components of the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108, such as the ultrasonic transducer 120 and the end effectors 122, 124, 125.

FIG. 4 illustrates an equivalent circuit 150 of an ultrasonic transducer, such as the ultrasonic transducer 120, according to one form. The equivalent circuit 150 comprises a first “motional” branch having a serially connected inductance L_(s), resistance R_(s) and capacitance C_(s) that define the electromechanical properties of the resonator, and a second capacitive branch having a static capacitance C_(o). Drive current I_(g) may be received from a generator at a drive voltage V_(g), with motional current I_(m) flowing through the first branch and current I_(g)-I_(m) flowing through the capacitive branch. Control of the electromechanical properties of the ultrasonic transducer may be achieved by suitably controlling I_(g) and V_(g). As explained above, conventional generator architectures may include a tuning inductor L_(t) (shown in phantom in FIG. 4) for tuning out in a parallel resonance circuit the static capacitance Co at a resonant frequency so that substantially all of generator's current output I_(g) flows through the motional branch. In this way, control of the motional branch current I_(m) is achieved by controlling the generator current output I_(g). The tuning inductor L_(t) is specific to the static capacitance C_(o) of an ultrasonic transducer, however, and a different ultrasonic transducer having a different static capacitance requires a different tuning inductor L_(t). Moreover, because the tuning inductor L_(t) is matched to the nominal value of the static capacitance Co at a single resonant frequency, accurate control of the motional branch current I_(m) is assured only at that frequency, and as frequency shifts down with transducer temperature, accurate control of the motional branch current is compromised.

Forms of the generator 100 do not rely on a tuning inductor L_(t) to monitor the motional branch current I_(m). Instead, the generator 100 may use the measured value of the static capacitance C_(o) in between applications of power for a specific ultrasonic surgical instrument 104 (along with drive signal voltage and current feedback data) to determine values of the motional branch current I_(m) on a dynamic and ongoing basis (e.g., in real-time). Such forms of the generator 100 are therefore able to provide virtual tuning to simulate a system that is tuned or resonant with any value of static capacitance C_(o) at any frequency, and not just at single resonant frequency dictated by a nominal value of the static capacitance C_(o).

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a generator 200, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3). The generator 200 is configured to provide inductorless tuning as described above, among other benefits. Additional details of the generator 200 are described in commonly assigned and contemporaneously filed U.S. Pat. No. 9,060,775, titled SURGICAL GENERATOR FOR ULTRASONIC AND ELECTROSURGICAL DEVICES, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. With reference to FIG. 5, the generator 200 may comprise a patient isolated stage 202 in communication with a non-isolated stage 204 via a power transformer 206. A secondary winding 208 of the power transformer 206 is contained in the isolated stage 202 and may comprise a tapped configuration (e.g., a center-tapped or a non-center-tapped configuration) to define drive signal outputs 210 a, 210 b, 210 c for delivering drive signals to different surgical instruments, such as, for example, an ultrasonic surgical instrument 104, an RF electrosurgical instrument 106, and a multifunction surgical instrument 108. In particular, drive signal outputs 210 a, 210 c may output an ultrasonic drive signal (e.g., a 420V root-mean-square [RMS] drive signal) to an ultrasonic surgical instrument 104, and drive signal outputs 210 b, 210 c may output an electrosurgical drive signal (e.g., a 100V root-mean-square [RMS] drive signal) to an RF electrosurgical instrument 106, with the drive signal output 2160 b corresponding to the center tap of the power transformer 206.

In certain forms, the ultrasonic and electrosurgical drive signals may be provided simultaneously to distinct surgical instruments and/or to a single surgical instrument having the capability to deliver both ultrasonic and electrosurgical energy to tissue, such as the multifunction surgical instrument 108 (FIGS. 1-3). It will be appreciated that the electrosurgical signal, provided either to a dedicated electrosurgical instrument and/or to a combined multifunction ultrasonic/electrosurgical instrument may be either a therapeutic or sub-therapeutic level signal where the sub-therapeutic signal can be used, for example, to monitor tissue or instrument conditions and provide feedback to the generator. For example, the ultrasonic and RF signals can be delivered separately or simultaneously from a generator with a single output port in order to provide the desired output signal to the surgical instrument, as will be discussed in more detail below. Accordingly, the generator can combine the ultrasonic and electrosurgical RF energies and deliver the combined energies to the multifunction ultrasonic/electrosurgical instrument. Bipolar electrodes can be placed on one or both jaws of the end effector. One jaw may be driven by ultrasonic energy in addition to electrosurgical RF energy, working simultaneously. The ultrasonic energy may be employed to dissect tissue while the electrosurgical RF energy may be employed for vessel sealing.

The non-isolated stage 204 may comprise a power amplifier 212 having an output connected to a primary winding 214 of the power transformer 206. In certain forms the power amplifier 212 may be comprise a push-pull amplifier. For example, the non-isolated stage 204 may further comprise a logic device 216 for supplying a digital output to a DAC circuit 218, which in turn supplies a corresponding analog signal to an input of the power amplifier 212. In certain forms the logic device 216 may comprise a programmable gate array (PGA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device (PLD), among other logic circuits, for example. The logic device 216, by virtue of controlling the input of the power amplifier 212 via the DAC circuit 218, may therefore control any of a number of parameters (e.g., frequency, waveform shape, waveform amplitude) of drive signals appearing at the drive signal outputs 210 a, 210 b, 210 c. In certain forms and as discussed below, the logic device 216, in conjunction with a processor (e.g., a digital signal processor discussed below), may implement a number of digital signal processing (DSP)-based and/or other control algorithms to control parameters of the drive signals output by the generator 200.

Power may be supplied to a power rail of the power amplifier 212 by a switch-mode regulator 220, e.g., power converter. In certain forms the switch-mode regulator 220 may comprise an adjustable buck regulator, for example. The non-isolated stage 204 may further comprise a first processor 222, which in one form may comprise a DSP processor such as an Analog Devices ADSP-21469 SHARC DSP, available from Analog Devices, Norwood, Mass., for example, although in various forms any suitable processor may be employed. In certain forms the DSP processor 222 may control operation of the switch-mode regulator 220 responsive to voltage feedback data received from the power amplifier 212 by the DSP processor 222 via an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit 224. In one form, for example, the DSP processor 222 may receive as input, via the ADC circuit 224, the waveform envelope of a signal (e.g., an RF signal) being amplified by the power amplifier 212. The DSP processor 222 may then control the switch-mode regulator 220 (e.g., via a pulse-width modulated (PWM) output) such that the rail voltage supplied to the power amplifier 212 tracks the waveform envelope of the amplified signal. By dynamically modulating the rail voltage of the power amplifier 212 based on the waveform envelope, the efficiency of the power amplifier 212 may be significantly improved relative to a fixed rail voltage amplifier schemes.

In certain forms, the logic device 216, in conjunction with the DSP processor 222, may implement a digital synthesis circuit such as a DDS (see e.g., FIGS. 13, 14) control scheme to control the waveform shape, frequency and/or amplitude of drive signals output by the generator 200. In one form, for example, the logic device 216 may implement a DDS control algorithm by recalling waveform samples stored in a dynamically-updated lookup table (LUT), such as a RAM LUT, which may be embedded in an FPGA. This control algorithm is particularly useful for ultrasonic applications in which an ultrasonic transducer, such as the ultrasonic transducer 120, may be driven by a clean sinusoidal current at its resonant frequency. Because other frequencies may excite parasitic resonances, minimizing or reducing the total distortion of the motional branch current may correspondingly minimize or reduce undesirable resonance effects. Because the waveform shape of a drive signal output by the generator 200 is impacted by various sources of distortion present in the output drive circuit (e.g., the power transformer 206, the power amplifier 212), voltage and current feedback data based on the drive signal may be input into an algorithm, such as an error control algorithm implemented by the DSP processor 222, which compensates for distortion by suitably pre-distorting or modifying the waveform samples stored in the LUT on a dynamic, ongoing basis (e.g., in real-time). In one form, the amount or degree of pre-distortion applied to the LUT samples may be based on the error between a computed motional branch current and a desired current waveform shape, with the error being determined on a sample-by-sample basis. In this way, the pre-distorted LUT samples, when processed through the drive circuit, may result in a motional branch drive signal having the desired waveform shape (e.g., sinusoidal) for optimally driving the ultrasonic transducer. In such forms, the LUT waveform samples will therefore not represent the desired waveform shape of the drive signal, but rather the waveform shape that is required to ultimately produce the desired waveform shape of the motional branch drive signal when distortion effects are taken into account.

The non-isolated stage 204 may further comprise a first ADC circuit 226 and a second ADC circuit 228 coupled to the output of the power transformer 206 via respective isolation transformers 230, 232 for respectively sampling the voltage and current of drive signals output by the generator 200. In certain forms, the ADC circuits 226, 228 may be configured to sample at high speeds (e.g., 80 mega samples per second [MSPS]) to enable oversampling of the drive signals. In one form, for example, the sampling speed of the ADC circuits 226, 228 may enable approximately 200× (depending on frequency) oversampling of the drive signals. In certain forms, the sampling operations of the ADC circuit 226, 228 may be performed by a single ADC circuit receiving input voltage and current signals via a two-way multiplexer. The use of high-speed sampling in forms of the generator 200 may enable, among other things, calculation of the complex current flowing through the motional branch (which may be used in certain forms to implement direct digital synthesis (DDS) based waveform shape control described above), accurate digital filtering of the sampled signals, and calculation of real power consumption with a high degree of precision. Voltage and current feedback data output by the ADC circuits 226, 228 may be received and processed (e.g., first-in-first-out [FIFO] buffer, multiplexer, etc.) by the logic device 216 and stored in data memory for subsequent retrieval by, for example, the DSP processor 222. As noted above, voltage and current feedback data may be used as input to an algorithm for pre-distorting or modifying LUT waveform samples on a dynamic and ongoing basis. In certain forms, this may require each stored voltage and current feedback data pair to be indexed based on, or otherwise associated with, a corresponding LUT sample that was output by the logic device 216 when the voltage and current feedback data pair was acquired. Synchronization of the LUT samples and the voltage and current feedback data in this manner contributes to the correct timing and stability of the pre-distortion algorithm.

In certain forms, the voltage and current feedback data may be used to control the frequency and/or amplitude (e.g., current amplitude) of the drive signals. In one form, for example, voltage and current feedback data may be used to determine impedance phase. The frequency of the drive signal may then be controlled to minimize or reduce the difference between the determined impedance phase and an impedance phase setpoint (e.g., 0°), thereby minimizing or reducing the effects of harmonic distortion and correspondingly enhancing impedance phase measurement accuracy. The determination of phase impedance and a frequency control signal may be implemented in the DSP processor 222, for example, with the frequency control signal being supplied as input to a DDS control algorithm implemented by the logic device 216.

In another form, for example, the current feedback data may be monitored in order to maintain the current amplitude of the drive signal at a current amplitude setpoint. The current amplitude setpoint may be specified directly or determined indirectly based on specified voltage amplitude and power setpoints. In certain forms, control of the current amplitude may be implemented by control algorithm, such as, for example, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control algorithm, in the DSP processor 222. Variables controlled by the control algorithm to suitably control the current amplitude of the drive signal may include, for example, the scaling of the LUT waveform samples stored in the logic device 216 and/or the full-scale output voltage of the DAC circuit 218 (which supplies the input to the power amplifier 212) via a DAC circuit 234.

The non-isolated stage 204 may further comprise a second processor 236 for providing, among other things user interface (UI) functionality. In one form, the UI processor 236 may comprise an Atmel AT91SAM9263 processor having an ARM 926EJ-S core, available from Atmel Corporation, San Jose, Calif., for example. Examples of UI functionality supported by the UI processor 236 may include audible and visual user feedback, communication with peripheral devices (e.g., via a Universal Serial Bus [USB] interface), communication with the foot switch 130, communication with an input device 110 (e.g., a touch screen display) and communication with an output device 112 (e.g., a speaker), as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The UI processor 236 may communicate with the DSP processor 222 and the logic device 216 (e.g., via serial peripheral interface [SPI] buses). Although the UI processor 236 may primarily support UI functionality, it may also coordinate with the DSP processor 222 to implement hazard mitigation in certain forms. For example, the UI processor 236 may be programmed to monitor various aspects of user input and/or other inputs (e.g., touch screen inputs, foot switch 130 inputs as shown in FIG. 3, temperature sensor inputs) and may disable the drive output of the generator 200 when an erroneous condition is detected.

In certain forms, both the DSP processor 222 and the UI processor 236, for example, may determine and monitor the operating state of the generator 200. For the DSP processor 222, the operating state of the generator 200 may dictate, for example, which control and/or diagnostic processes are implemented by the DSP processor 222. For the UI processor 236, the operating state of the generator 200 may dictate, for example, which elements of a user interface (e.g., display screens, sounds) are presented to a user. The respective DSP and UI processors 222, 236 may independently maintain the current operating state of the generator 200 and recognize and evaluate possible transitions out of the current operating state. The DSP processor 222 may function as the master in this relationship and determine when transitions between operating states are to occur. The UI processor 236 may be aware of valid transitions between operating states and may confirm if a particular transition is appropriate. For example, when the DSP processor 222 instructs the UI processor 236 to transition to a specific state, the UI processor 236 may verify that requested transition is valid. In the event that a requested transition between states is determined to be invalid by the UI processor 236, the UI processor 236 may cause the generator 200 to enter a failure mode.

The non-isolated stage 204 may further comprise a controller 238 for monitoring input devices 110 (e.g., a capacitive touch sensor used for turning the generator 200 on and off, a capacitive touch screen). In certain forms, the controller 238 may comprise at least one processor and/or other controller device in communication with the UI processor 236. In one form, for example, the controller 238 may comprise a processor (e.g., a Mega168 8-bit controller available from Atmel) configured to monitor user input provided via one or more capacitive touch sensors. In one form, the controller 238 may comprise a touch screen controller (e.g., a QT5480 touch screen controller available from Atmel) to control and manage the acquisition of touch data from a capacitive touch screen.

In certain forms, when the generator 200 is in a “power off” state, the controller 238 may continue to receive operating power (e.g., via a line from a power supply of the generator 200, such as the power supply 254 discussed below). In this way, the controller 196 may continue to monitor an input device 110 (e.g., a capacitive touch sensor located on a front panel of the generator 200) for turning the generator 200 on and off. When the generator 200 is in the power off state, the controller 238 may wake the power supply (e.g., enable operation of one or more DC/DC voltage converters 256 of the power supply 254) if activation of the “on/off” input device 110 by a user is detected. The controller 238 may therefore initiate a sequence for transitioning the generator 200 to a “power on” state. Conversely, the controller 238 may initiate a sequence for transitioning the generator 200 to the power off state if activation of the “on/off” input device 110 is detected when the generator 200 is in the power on state. In certain forms, for example, the controller 238 may report activation of the “on/off” input device 110 to the UI processor 236, which in turn implements the necessary process sequence for transitioning the generator 200 to the power off state. In such forms, the controller 196 may have no independent ability for causing the removal of power from the generator 200 after its power on state has been established.

In certain forms, the controller 238 may cause the generator 200 to provide audible or other sensory feedback for alerting the user that a power on or power off sequence has been initiated. Such an alert may be provided at the beginning of a power on or power off sequence and prior to the commencement of other processes associated with the sequence.

In certain forms, the isolated stage 202 may comprise an instrument interface circuit 240 to, for example, provide a communication interface between a control circuit of a surgical instrument (e.g., a control circuit comprising handpiece switches) and components of the non-isolated stage 204, such as, for example, the logic device 216, the DSP processor 222 and/or the UI processor 236. The instrument interface circuit 240 may exchange information with components of the non-isolated stage 204 via a communication link that maintains a suitable degree of electrical isolation between the isolated and non-isolated stages 202, 204, such as, for example, an infrared (IR)-based communication link. Power may be supplied to the instrument interface circuit 240 using, for example, a low-dropout voltage regulator powered by an isolation transformer driven from the non-isolated stage 204.

In one form, the instrument interface circuit 240 may comprise a logic circuit 242 (e.g., logic circuit, programmable logic circuit, PGA, FPGA, PLD) in communication with a signal conditioning circuit 244. The signal conditioning circuit 244 may be configured to receive a periodic signal from the logic circuit 242 (e.g., a 2 kHz square wave) to generate a bipolar interrogation signal having an identical frequency. The interrogation signal may be generated, for example, using a bipolar current source fed by a differential amplifier. The interrogation signal may be communicated to a surgical instrument control circuit (e.g., by using a conductive pair in a cable that connects the generator 200 to the surgical instrument) and monitored to determine a state or configuration of the control circuit. The control circuit may comprise a number of switches, resistors and/or diodes to modify one or more characteristics (e.g., amplitude, rectification) of the interrogation signal such that a state or configuration of the control circuit is uniquely discernable based on the one or more characteristics. In one form, for example, the signal conditioning circuit 244 may comprise an ADC circuit for generating samples of a voltage signal appearing across inputs of the control circuit resulting from passage of interrogation signal therethrough. The logic circuit 242 (or a component of the non-isolated stage 204) may then determine the state or configuration of the control circuit based on the ADC circuit samples.

In one form, the instrument interface circuit 240 may comprise a first data circuit interface 246 to enable information exchange between the logic circuit 242 (or other element of the instrument interface circuit 240) and a first data circuit disposed in or otherwise associated with a surgical instrument. In certain forms, for example, a first data circuit 136 (FIG. 2) may be disposed in a cable integrally attached to a surgical instrument handpiece, or in an adaptor for interfacing a specific surgical instrument type or model with the generator 200. The first data circuit 136 may be implemented in any suitable manner and may communicate with the generator according to any suitable protocol including, for example, as described herein with respect to the first data circuit 136. In certain forms, the first data circuit may comprise a non-volatile storage device, such as an EEPROM device. In certain forms and referring again to FIG. 5, the first data circuit interface 246 may be implemented separately from the logic circuit 242 and comprise suitable circuitry (e.g., discrete logic devices, a processor) to enable communication between the logic circuit 242 and the first data circuit. In other forms, the first data circuit interface 246 may be integral with the logic circuit 242.

In certain forms, the first data circuit 136 *FIG. 2) may store information pertaining to the particular surgical instrument with which it is associated. Such information may include, for example, a model number, a serial number, a number of operations in which the surgical instrument has been used, and/or any other type of information. This information may be read by the instrument interface circuit 240 (e.g., by the logic circuit 242), transferred to a component of the non-isolated stage 204 (e.g., to logic device 216, DSP processor 222 and/or UI processor 236) for presentation to a user via an output device 112 (FIGS. 1 and 3) and/or for controlling a function or operation of the generator 200. Additionally, any type of information may be communicated to first data circuit 136 for storage therein via the first data circuit interface 246 (e.g., using the logic circuit 242). Such information may comprise, for example, an updated number of operations in which the surgical instrument has been used and/or dates and/or times of its usage.

As discussed previously, a surgical instrument may be detachable from a handpiece (e.g., the multifunction surgical instrument 108 may be detachable from the handpiece 109) to promote instrument interchangeability and/or disposability. In such cases, conventional generators may be limited in their ability to recognize particular instrument configurations being used and to optimize control and diagnostic processes accordingly. The addition of readable data circuits to surgical instruments to address this issue is problematic from a compatibility standpoint, however. For example, designing a surgical instrument to remain backwardly compatible with generators that lack the requisite data reading functionality may be impractical due to, for example, differing signal schemes, configuration complexity, and cost. Forms of instruments discussed herein address these concerns by using data circuits that may be implemented in existing surgical instruments economically and with minimal configuration changes to preserve compatibility of the surgical instruments with current generator platforms.

Additionally, forms of the generator 200 may enable communication with instrument-based data circuits. For example, the generator 200 may be configured to communicate with a second data circuit 138 (FIG. 2) contained in an instrument (e.g., the multifunction surgical instrument 108 shown in FIG. 2). In some forms, the second data circuit 138 may be implemented in a many similar to that of the first data circuit 136 (FIG. 2) described herein. The instrument interface circuit 240 may comprise a second data circuit interface 248 to enable this communication. In one form, the second data circuit interface 248 may comprise a tri-state digital interface, although other interfaces may also be used. In certain forms, the second data circuit may generally be any circuit for transmitting and/or receiving data. In one form, for example, the second data circuit may store information pertaining to the particular surgical instrument with which it is associated. Such information may include, for example, a model number, a serial number, a number of operations in which the surgical instrument has been used, and/or any other type of information.

In some forms, the second data circuit 138 (FIG. 2) may store information about the electrical and/or ultrasonic properties of an associated ultrasonic transducer 120, end effector 125, or ultrasonic drive system. For example, the first data circuit 136 (FIG. 2) may indicate a burn-in frequency slope, as described herein. Additionally or alternatively, any type of information may be communicated to second data circuit for storage therein via the second data circuit interface 248 (e.g., using the logic circuit 242). Such information may comprise, for example, an updated number of operations in which the instrument has been used and/or dates and/or times of its usage. In certain forms, the second data circuit may transmit data acquired by one or more sensors (e.g., an instrument-based temperature sensor). In certain forms, the second data circuit may receive data from the generator 200 and provide an indication to a user (e.g., an LED indication or other visible indication) based on the received data.

In certain forms, the second data circuit and the second data circuit interface 248 may be configured such that communication between the logic circuit 242 and the second data circuit can be effected without the need to provide additional conductors for this purpose (e.g., dedicated conductors of a cable connecting a handpiece to the generator 200). In one form, for example, information may be communicated to and from the second data circuit using a 1-wire bus communication scheme implemented on existing cabling, such as one of the conductors used transmit interrogation signals from the signal conditioning circuit 244 to a control circuit in a handpiece. In this way, configuration changes or modifications to the surgical instrument that might otherwise be necessary are minimized or reduced. Moreover, because different types of communications implemented over a common physical channel can be frequency-band separated, the presence of a second data circuit may be “invisible” to generators that do not have the requisite data reading functionality, thus enabling backward compatibility of the surgical instrument.

In certain forms, the isolated stage 202 may comprise at least one blocking capacitor 250-1 connected to the drive signal output 210 b to prevent passage of direct current (DC) to a patient. A single blocking capacitor may be required to comply with medical regulations or standards, for example. While failure in single-capacitor configurations is relatively uncommon, such failure may nonetheless have negative consequences. In one form, a second blocking capacitor 250-2 may be provided in series with the blocking capacitor 250-1, with current leakage from a point between the blocking capacitors 250-1, 250-2 being monitored by, for example, an ADC circuit 252 for sampling a voltage induced by leakage current. The samples may be received by the logic circuit 242, for example. Based changes in the leakage current (as indicated by the voltage samples in the form of FIG. 5), the generator 200 may determine when at least one of the blocking capacitors 250-1, 250-2 has failed. Accordingly, the form of FIG. 5 provides a benefit over single-capacitor configurations having a single point of failure.

In certain forms, the non-isolated stage 204 may comprise a power supply 254 for delivering DC power at a suitable voltage and current. The power supply may comprise, for example, a 400 W power supply for delivering a 48 VDC system voltage. The power supply 254 may further comprise one or more DC/DC voltage converters 256 for receiving the output of the power supply to generate DC outputs at the voltages and currents required by the various components of the generator 200. As discussed above in connection with the controller 238, one or more of the DC/DC voltage converters 256 may receive an input from the controller 238 when activation of the “on/off” input device 110 by a user is detected by the controller 238 to enable operation of, or wake, the DC/DC voltage converters 256.

FIG. 6 illustrates one form of a drive system 302 of a generator 300, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3). The generator 300 is configured to provide an ultrasonic electrical signal for driving an ultrasonic transducer (e.g., ultrasonic transducer 120 FIGS. 1-3), also referred to as a drive signal. The generator 300 is similar to and may be interchangeable with the generators 100, 200 (FIGS. 1-3 and 5). The drive system 302 is flexible and can create an ultrasonic electrical drive signal 304 at a desired frequency and power level setting for driving the ultrasonic transducer 306. In various forms, the generator 300 may comprise several separate functional elements, such as modules and/or blocks. Although certain modules and/or blocks may be described by way of example, it can be appreciated that a greater or lesser number of modules and/or blocks may be used and still fall within the scope of the forms. Further, although various forms may be described in terms of modules and/or blocks to facilitate description, such modules and/or blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware components, e.g., processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), circuits, registers and/or software components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/or combinations of hardware and software components.

In one form, the generator 300 drive system 302 may comprise one or more embedded applications implemented as firmware, software, hardware, or any combination thereof. The generator 300 drive system 302 may comprise various executable modules such as software, programs, data, drivers, application program interfaces (APIs), and so forth. The firmware may be stored in nonvolatile memory (NVM), such as in bit-masked read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory. In various implementations, storing the firmware in ROM may preserve flash memory. The NVM may comprise other types of memory including, for example, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), EEPROM, or battery backed random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), and/or synchronous DRAM (SDRAM).

In one form, the generator 300 drive system 302 comprises a hardware component implemented as a processor 308 for executing program instructions for monitoring various measurable characteristics of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104 (FIG. 1) and generating an output signal for driving the ultrasonic transducer in cutting and/or coagulation operating modes. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the generator 300 and the drive system 302 may comprise additional or fewer components and only a simplified version of the generator 300 and the drive system 302 are described herein for conciseness and clarity. In various forms, as previously discussed, the hardware component may be implemented as a DSP, PLD, ASIC, circuits, and/or registers. In one form, the processor 308 may be configured to store and execute computer software program instructions to generate the output signals for driving various components of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104, such as a transducer, an end effector, and/or a blade.

In one form, under control of one or more software program routines, the processor 308 executes the methods in accordance with the described forms to generate an electrical signal output waveform comprising current (I), voltage (V), and/or frequency (f) for various time intervals or periods (T). The stepwise waveforms of the drive signals may be generated by forming a piecewise linear combination of constant functions over a plurality of time intervals created by stepping the generator 300 drive signals, e.g., output drive current (I), voltage (V), and/or frequency (f). The time intervals or periods (T) may be predetermined (e.g., fixed and/or programmed by the user) or may be variable. Variable time intervals may be defined by setting the drive signal to a first value and maintaining the drive signal at that value until a change is detected in a monitored characteristic. Examples of monitored characteristics may comprise, for example, transducer impedance, tissue impedance, tissue heating, tissue transection, tissue coagulation, and the like. The ultrasonic drive signals generated by the generator 300 include, without limitation, ultrasonic drive signals capable of exciting the ultrasonic transducer 306 in various vibratory modes such as, for example, the primary longitudinal mode and harmonics thereof as well flexural and torsional vibratory modes.

In one form, the executable modules comprise one or more algorithm(s) 310 stored in memory that when executed causes the processor 308 to generate an electrical signal output waveform comprising current (I), voltage (V), and/or frequency (f) for various time intervals or periods (T). The stepwise waveforms of the drive signals may be generated by forming a piecewise linear combination of constant functions over two or more time intervals created by stepping the output drive current (I), voltage (V), and/or frequency (f) of the generator 300. The drive signals may be generated either for predetermined fixed time intervals or periods (T) of time or variable time intervals or periods of time in accordance with the one or more algorithm(s) 310. Under control of the processor 308, the generator 100 outputs (e.g., increases or decreases) the current (I), voltage (V), and/or frequency (f) up or down at a particular resolution for a predetermined period (T) or until a predetermined condition is detected, such as a change in a monitored characteristic (e.g., transducer impedance, tissue impedance). The steps can change in programmed increments or decrements. If other steps are desired, the generator 300 can increase or decrease the step adaptively based on measured system characteristics.

In operation, the user can program the operation of the generator 300 using the input device 312 located on the front panel of the generator 300 console. The input device 312 may comprise any suitable device that generates signals 314 that can be applied to the processor 308 to control the operation of the generator 300. In various forms, the input device 312 includes buttons, switches, thumbwheels, keyboard, keypad, touch screen monitor, pointing device, remote connection to a general purpose or dedicated computer. In other forms, the input device 312 may comprise a suitable user interface. Accordingly, by way of the input device 312, the user can set or program the current (I), voltage (V), frequency (f), and/or period (T) for programming the output of the generator 300. The processor 308 then displays the selected power level by sending a signal on line 316 to an output indicator 318.

In various forms, the output indicator 318 may provide visual, audible, and/or tactile feedback to the surgeon to indicate the status of a surgical procedure, such as, for example, when tissue cutting and coagulating is complete based on a measured characteristic of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 104, e.g., transducer impedance, tissue impedance, or other measurements as subsequently described. By way of example, and not limitation, visual feedback comprises any type of visual indication device including incandescent lamps or LEDs, graphical user interface, display, analog indicator, digital indicator, bar graph display, digital alphanumeric display. By way of example, and not limitation, audible feedback comprises any type of buzzer, computer generated tone, computerized speech, voice user interface (VUI) to interact with computers through a voice/speech platform. By way of example, and not limitation, tactile feedback comprises any type of vibratory feedback provided through an instrument housing handle assembly.

In one form, the processor 308 may be configured or programmed to generate a digital current signal 320 and a digital frequency signal 322. These digital signals 320, 322 are applied to a digital synthesis circuit such as the DDS circuit 324 (see e.g., FIGS. 13, 14) to adjust the amplitude and the frequency (f) of the ultrasonic electrical drive signal 304 to the transducer. The output of the DDS circuit 324 is applied to a power amplifier 326 whose output is applied to a transformer 328. The output of the transformer 328 is the ultrasonic electrical drive signal 304 applied to the ultrasonic transducer 306, which is coupled to a blade by way of a waveguide. The output of the DDS circuit 324 may be stored in one more memory circuits including volatile (RAM) and non-volatile (ROM) memory circuits.

In one form, the generator 300 comprises one or more measurement modules or components that may be configured to monitor measurable characteristics of the ultrasonic instrument 104 (FIGS. 1, 2) or the multifunction electrosurgical/ultrasonic instrument 108 (FIGS. 1-3). In the illustrated form, the processor 308 may be employed to monitor and calculate system characteristics. As shown, the processor 308 measures the impedance Z of the transducer by monitoring the current supplied to the ultrasonic transducer 306 and the voltage applied to the transducer. In one form, a current sense circuit 330 is employed to sense the current flowing through the transducer and a voltage sense circuit 332 is employed to sense the output voltage applied to the ultrasonic transducer 306. These signals may be applied to the ADC circuit 336 via an analog multiplexer 334 circuit or switching circuit arrangement. The analog multiplexer 334 routes the appropriate analog signal to the ADC circuit 336 for conversion. In other forms, multiple ADC circuits 336 may be employed for each measured characteristic instead of the analog multiplexer 334 circuit. The processor 308 receives the digital output 338 of the ADC circuit 336 and calculates the transducer impedance Z based on the measured values of current and voltage. The processor 308 adjusts the ultrasonic electrical drive signal 304 such that it can generate a desired power versus load curve. In accordance with programmed algorithm(s) 310, the processor 308 can step the ultrasonic electrical drive signal 304, e.g., the current or frequency, in any suitable increment or decrement in response to the transducer impedance Z.

FIG. 7 illustrates one aspect of a drive system 402 of the generator 400, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3). In operation, the user can program the operation of the generator 400 using the input device 412 located on the front panel of the generator 400 console. The input device 412 may comprise any suitable device that generates signals 414 that can be applied to the processor 408 to control the operation of the generator 400. In various forms, the input device 412 includes buttons, switches, thumbwheels, keyboard, keypad, touch screen monitor, pointing device, remote connection to a general purpose or dedicated computer. In other forms, the input device 412 may comprise a suitable user interface. Accordingly, by way of the input device 412, the user can set or program the current (I), voltage (V), frequency (f), and/or period (T) for programming the output of the generator 400. The processor 408 then displays the selected power level by sending a signal on line 416 to an output indicator 418.

The generator 400 comprises a tissue impedance module 442. The drive system 402 is configured to generate electrical drive signal 404 to drive the ultrasonic transducer 406. In one aspect, the tissue impedance module 442 may be configured to measure the impedance Zt of tissue grasped between the blade 440 and the clamp arm assembly 444. The tissue impedance module 442 comprises an RF oscillator 446, an RF voltage sensing circuit 448, and an RF current sensing circuit 450. The RF voltage and RF current sensing circuits 448, 450 respond to the RF voltage Vrf applied to the blade 440 electrode and the RF current irf flowing through the blade 440 electrode, the tissue, and the conductive portion of the clamp arm assembly 444. The sensed voltage Vrf and current Irf are converted to digital form by the ADC circuit 436 via the analog multiplexer 434. The processor 408 receives the digital output 438 of the ADC circuit 436 and determines the tissue impedance Zt by calculating the ratio of the RF voltage Vrf to current Irf measured by the RF voltage sensing circuit 448 and the RF current sense circuit 450. In one aspect, the transection of the inner muscle layer and the tissue may be detected by sensing the tissue impedance Zt. Accordingly, detection of the tissue impedance Zt may be integrated with an automated process for separating the inner muscle layer from the outer adventitia layer prior to transecting the tissue without causing a significant amount of heating, which normally occurs at resonance.

In one form, the RF voltage Vrf applied to the blade 440 electrode and the RF current Irf flowing through the blade 440 electrode, the tissue, and the conductive portion of the clamp arm assembly 451 are suitable for vessel sealing and//or dissecting. Thus, the RF power output of the generator 400 can be selected for non-therapeutic functions such as tissue impedance measurements as well as therapeutic functions such as vessel sealing and/or dissection. It will be appreciated, that in the context of the present disclosure, the ultrasonic and the RF electrosurgical energies can be supplied by the generator either individually or simultaneously.

In various forms, feedback is provided by the output indicator 418 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The output indicator 418 is particularly useful in applications where the tissue being manipulated by the end effector is out of the user's field of view and the user cannot see when a change of state occurs in the tissue. The output indicator 418 communicates to the user that a change in tissue state has occurred. As previously discussed, the output indicator 418 may be configured to provide various types of feedback to the user including, without limitation, visual, audible, and/or tactile feedback to indicate to the user (e.g., surgeon, clinician) that the tissue has undergone a change of state or condition of the tissue. By way of example, and not limitation, as previously discussed, visual feedback comprises any type of visual indication device including incandescent lamps or LEDs, graphical user interface, display, analog indicator, digital indicator, bar graph display, digital alphanumeric display. By way of example, and not limitation, audible feedback comprises any type of buzzer, computer generated tone, computerized speech, VUI to interact with computers through a voice/speech platform. By way of example, and not limitation, tactile feedback comprises any type of vibratory feedback provided through the instrument housing handle assembly. The change of state of the tissue may be determined based on transducer and tissue impedance measurements as previously described, or based on voltage, current, and frequency measurements.

In one form, the processor 408 may be configured or programmed to generate a digital current signal 420 and a digital frequency signal 422. These digital signals 420, 422 are applied to a digital synthesis circuit such as the DDS circuit 424 (see e.g., FIGS. 13, 14) to adjust the amplitude and the frequency (f) of the electrical drive signal 404 to the transducer 406. The output of the DDS circuit 424 is applied to a power amplifier 426 whose output is applied to a transformer 428. The output of the transformer 428 is the electrical drive signal 404 applied to the ultrasonic transducer 406, which is coupled to a blade by way of a waveguide. The output of the DDS circuit 424 may be stored in one more memory circuits including volatile (RAM) and non-volatile (ROM) memory circuits.

In one form, the generator 400 comprises one or more measurement modules or components that may be configured to monitor measurable characteristics of the ultrasonic instrument 104 (FIGS. 1, 3) or the multifunction electrosurgical/ultrasonic instrument 108 (FIGS. 1-3). In the illustrated form, the processor 408 may be employed to monitor and calculate system characteristics. As shown, the processor 408 measures the impedance Z of the transducer by monitoring the current supplied to the ultrasonic transducer 406 and the voltage applied to the transducer. In one form, a current sense circuit 430 is employed to sense the current flowing through the transducer and a voltage sense circuit 432 is employed to sense the output voltage applied to the ultrasonic transducer 406. These signals may be applied to the ADC circuit 436 via an analog multiplexer 434 circuit or switching circuit arrangement. The analog multiplexer 434 routes the appropriate analog signal to the ADC circuit 436 for conversion. In other forms, multiple ADC circuits 436 may be employed for each measured characteristic instead of the analog multiplexer 434 circuit. The processor 408 receives the digital output 438 of the ADC circuit 436 and calculates the transducer impedance Z based on the measured values of current and voltage. The processor 308 adjusts the electrical drive signal 404 such that it can generate a desired power versus load curve. In accordance with programmed algorithm(s) 410, the processor 408 can step the ultrasonic electrical drive signal 404, e.g., the current or frequency, in any suitable increment or decrement in response to the transducer impedance Z.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, in various forms, the various executable instructions or modules (e.g., algorithms 310, 410) comprising computer readable instructions can be executed by the processor 308, 408 portion of the generator 300, 400. In various forms, the operations described with respect to the algorithms may be implemented as one or more software components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic; one or more hardware components, e.g., processors, DSPs, PLDs, ASICs, circuits, registers; and/or combinations of software and hardware. In one form, the executable instructions to perform the algorithms may be stored in memory. When executed, the instructions cause the processor 308, 408 to determine a change in tissue state provide feedback to the user by way of the output indicator 318, 418. In accordance with such executable instructions, the processor 308, 408 monitors and evaluates the voltage, current, and/or frequency signal samples available from the generator 300, 400 and according to the evaluation of such signal samples determines whether a change in tissue state has occurred. As further described below, a change in tissue state may be determined based on the type of ultrasonic instrument and the power level that the instrument is energized at. In response to the feedback, the operational mode of the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 (FIGS. 1-3) may be controlled by the user or may be automatically or semi-automatically controlled.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a generator 500, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3). The generator 500 is configured to deliver multiple energy modalities to a surgical instrument. The generator 500 includes functionalities of the generators 200, 300, 400 shown in FIGS. 5-7. The generator 500 provides RF and ultrasonic signals for delivering energy to a surgical instrument. The RF and ultrasonic signals may be provided alone or in combination and may be provided simultaneously. As noted above, at least one generator output can deliver multiple energy modalities (e.g., ultrasonic, bipolar or monopolar RF, irreversible and/or reversible electroporation, and/or microwave energy, among others) through a single port and these signals can be delivered separately or simultaneously to the end effector to treat tissue. The generator 500 comprises a processor 502 coupled to a waveform generator 504. The processor 502 and waveform generator 504 are configured to generate a variety of signal waveforms based on information stored in a memory coupled to the processor 502, not shown for clarity of disclosure. The digital information associated with a waveform is provided to the waveform generator 504 which includes one or more DAC circuits to convert the digital input into an analog output. The analog output is fed to an amplifier 1106 for signal conditioning and amplification. The conditioned and amplified output of the amplifier 506 is coupled to a power transformer 508. The signals are coupled across the power transformer 508 to the secondary side, which is in the patient isolation side. A first signal of a first energy modality is provided to the surgical instrument between the terminals labeled ENERGY1 and RETURN. A second signal of a second energy modality is coupled across a capacitor 510 and is provided to the surgical instrument between the terminals labeled ENERGY2 and RETURN. It will be appreciated that more than two energy modalities may be output and thus the subscript “n” may be used to designate that up to n ENERGYn terminals may be provided, where n is a positive integer greater than 1. It also will be appreciated that up to “n” return paths RETURNn may be provided without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

A first voltage sensing circuit 512 is coupled across the terminals labeled ENERGY1 and the RETURN path to measure the output voltage therebetween. A second voltage sensing circuit 524 is coupled across the terminals labeled ENERGY2 and the RETURN path to measure the output voltage therebetween. A current sensing circuit 514 is disposed in series with the RETURN leg of the secondary side of the power transformer 508 as shown to measure the output current for either energy modality. If different return paths are provided for each energy modality, then a separate current sensing circuit should be provided in each return leg. The outputs of the first and second voltage sensing circuits 512, 524 are provided to respective isolation transformers 516, 522 and the output of the current sensing circuit 514 is provided to another isolation transformer 518. The outputs of the isolation transformers 516, 518, 522 in the on the primary side of the power transformer 508 (non-patient-isolated side) are provided to a one or more ADC circuit 526. The digitized output of the ADC circuit 526 is provided to the processor 502 for further processing and computation. The output voltages and output current feedback information can be employed to adjust the output voltage and current provided to the surgical instrument and to compute output impedance, among other parameters. Input/output communications between the processor 502 and patient isolated circuits is provided through an interface circuit 520. Sensors also may be in electrical communication with the processor 502 by way of the interface circuit 520.

In one aspect, the impedance may be determined by the processor 502 by dividing the output of either the first voltage sensing circuit 512 coupled across the terminals labeled ENERGY1/RETURN or the second voltage sensing circuit 524 coupled across the terminals labeled ENERGY2/RETURN by the output of the current sensing circuit 514 disposed in series with the RETURN leg of the secondary side of the power transformer 508. The outputs of the first and second voltage sensing circuits 512, 524 are provided to separate isolations transformers 516, 522 and the output of the current sensing circuit 514 is provided to another isolation transformer 516. The digitized voltage and current sensing measurements from the ADC circuit 526 are provided the processor 502 for computing impedance. As an example, the first energy modality ENERGY1 may be ultrasonic energy and the second energy modality ENERGY2 may be RF energy. Nevertheless, in addition to ultrasonic and bipolar or monopolar RF energy modalities, other energy modalities include irreversible and/or reversible electroporation and/or microwave energy, among others. Also, although the example illustrated in FIG. 8 shows a single return path RETURN may be provided for two or more energy modalities, in other aspects multiple return paths RETURNn may be provided for each energy modality ENERGYn. Thus, as described herein, the ultrasonic transducer impedance may be measured by dividing the output of the first voltage sensing circuit 512 by the current sensing circuit 514 and the tissue impedance may be measured by dividing the output of the second voltage sensing circuit 524 by the current sensing circuit 514.

As shown in FIG. 8, the generator 500 comprising at least one output port can include a power transformer 508 with a single output and with multiple taps to provide power in the form of one or more energy modalities, such as ultrasonic, bipolar or monopolar RF, irreversible and/or reversible electroporation, and/or microwave energy, among others, for example, to the end effector depending on the type of treatment of tissue being performed. For example, the generator 500 can deliver energy with higher voltage and lower current to drive an ultrasonic transducer, with lower voltage and higher current to drive RF electrodes for sealing tissue, or with a coagulation waveform for spot coagulation using either monopolar or bipolar RF electrosurgical electrodes. The output waveform from the generator 500 can be steered, switched, or filtered to provide the frequency to the end effector of the surgical instrument. The connection of an ultrasonic transducer to the generator 500 output would be preferably located between the output labeled ENERGY1 and RETURN as shown in FIG. 8. An In one example, a connection of RF bipolar electrodes to the generator 500 output would be preferably located between the output labeled ENERGY2 and RETURN. In the case of monopolar output, the preferred connections would be active electrode (e.g., pencil or other probe) to the ENERGY2 output and a suitable return pad connected to the RETURN output.

In other aspects, the generators 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 described in connection with FIGS. 1-3 and 5-8, the ultrasonic drive circuit 114, and/or electrosurgery/RF drive circuit 116 as described in connection with FIG. 3 may be formed integrally with any one of the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. Accordingly, any of the processors, digital signal processors, circuits, controllers, logic devices, ADCs, DACs, amplifiers, converters, transformers, signal conditioners, data interface circuits, current and voltage sensing circuits, direct digital synthesis circuits, multiplexer (analog or digital), waveform generators, RF generators, memory, and the like, described in connection with any one of the generators 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 can be located within the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 or may be located remotely from the surgical instruments 104, 106, 108 and coupled to the surgical instruments via wired and/or wireless electrical connections.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of an electrosurgical system 9000 that allows for two ports on a generator 9001 and accounts for electrical isolation between two surgical instruments 9007, 9008. A scheme is provided for electrical isolation between the two instruments 9007, 9008 as they are located on the same patient isolation circuit. According to the configuration shown in FIG. 9, unintended electrical power feedback is prevented through the electrosurgical system 9000. In various aspects, power field effect transistors (FETs) or relays are used to electrically isolate all power lines for each of the two surgical instruments 9007, 9008. According to one aspect, the power FETs or relays are controlled by a 1-wire communication protocol.

As shown in FIG. 9, a generator 9001, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3), is coupled to a power switching mechanism 9003 and a communications system 9005. In one aspect, the power switching mechanism 9003 comprises power solid state switches such as, for example, FET or MOSFET transistors, and/or relays, such as electromechanical relays. In one aspect, the communications system 9005 comprises components for D1 emulation, FPGA expansion, and time slicing functionalities. The power switching mechanism 9003 is coupled to the communications system 9005. Each of the power switching mechanism 9003 and the communications system 9005 are coupled to surgical instruments 9007, 9009 (labeled device 1 and device 2). Each of surgical instruments 9007, 9009 comprise components for a combined RF and ultrasonic energy input 9011, handswitch (HSW) 1-wire serial protocol interface 9013, HP 1-wire serial protocol interface 9015, and a presence interface 9017 resistor. The power switching mechanism 9003 is coupled to the RF and Ultrasonic energy input 9011 for each of surgical instruments 9007, 9008. The communications system 9005 is coupled to the HSW 1-wire serial interface 9013, 9014, the HP 1-wire serial protocol interface 9015, 9016, and presence interface 9017, 9018 for each of surgical instruments 9007, 9008. While two surgical instruments are shown in FIG. 9, there may be more than two devices according to various aspects.

FIGS. 10-12 illustrate aspects of an interface with a generator to support two instruments simultaneously that allows the instruments to quickly switch between active/inactive by a user in a sterile field. FIGS. 10-12 describe multiple communication schemes which would allow for a super cap/battery charger and dual surgical instruments. The aspects of FIGS. 10-12 allow for communications to two surgical instruments in the surgical field from a generator with at least one communications port and allow for an operator in sterile field to switch between devices, for example, without modifying the surgical instruments.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a communications architecture of system 1001 comprising a generator 1003, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3), and surgical instruments 9007, 9008, which are shown in FIG. 9. According to FIG. 10, the generator 9001 is configured for delivering multiple energy modalities to a plurality of surgical instruments. As discussed herein the various energy modalities include, without limitation, ultrasonic, bipolar or monopolar RF, reversible and/or irreversible electroporation, and/or microwave energy modalities. The generator 9001 comprises a combined energy modality power output 1005, a communications interface 1007, and a presence interface 1049. According to the aspect of FIG. 10, the communications interface 1007 comprises an handswitch (HSW) serial interface 1011 and an handpiece (HP) serial interface 1013. The serial interfaces 1011, 1013 may comprise inter-integrated circuit (I²C), half duplex SPI, and/or Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) components and/or functionalities. The generator 1003 provides the combined energy modalities power output 1005 to an adapter 1015, for example, a pass-through charger (PTC). The adapter 1015 comprises energy storage circuit 1071, control circuit 1019, a unique presence element 1021, and associated circuit discussed below. In one aspect, the presence element 1021 is a resistor. In another aspect, the presence element 1021 may be a bar code, Quick Response (QR) code, or similar code, or a value stored in memory such as, for example, a value stored in NVM. The presence element 1021 may be unique to the adapter 1015 so that, in the event that another adapter that did not use the same wire interfaces could not be used with the unique presence element 1021. In one aspect, the unique presence element 1021 is a resistor. The energy storage circuit 1071 comprises a switching mechanism 1023, energy storage device 1025, storage control 1027, storage monitoring component 1029, and a device power monitoring component 1031. The control circuit 1019 may comprise a processor, FPGA, PLD, complex programmable logic device (CPLD), microcontroller, DSP, and/or ASIC, for example. According to the aspect shown in FIG. 10, an FPGA or microcontroller would act as an extension of an existing, similar computing hardware and allows for information to be relayed from on entity to another entity.

The switching mechanism 1023 is configured to receive the combined energy power output 1005 from the generator 1003 and it may be provided to the energy storage device 1025, surgical instrument 9007, and/or surgical instrument 9008. The device power monitoring component 1031 is coupled to the channels for the energy storage device 1025, surgical instrument 9007, surgical instrument 9008, and may monitor where power is flowing. The control circuit 1019 comprises communication interface 1033 coupled to the handswitch serial interface 1011 and an handpiece serial interface 1013 of the generator 1003. The control circuit 1019 is also coupled to the storage control 1027, storage monitoring component 1029, and device power monitoring component 1031 of the energy storage circuit 1071.

The control circuit 1019 further comprises a serial master interface 1035 that is coupled to handswitch (HSW) #1 circuit 1037 and handswitch (HSW) #2 circuit 1038, includes generation and ADC, a form of memory (non volatile or flash) 1039, along with a method for detecting the presence of an attached instrument (Presence) #1 circuit 1041 and Presence #2 circuit 1042, which includes a voltage or current source and ADC. The serial master interface 1035 also includes handswitch NVM bypass channels, which couple the serial master interface 1035 to the outputs of the handswitch #1 circuit 1037 and the handswitch #2 circuit 1038, respectively. The handswitch #1 circuit 1037 and handswitch #2 circuit 1038 are coupled to the HSW 1-wire serial protocol interfaces 9013, 9014 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively. The serial master interface 1035 further includes handpiece serial channels that are coupled to the HP 1-wire serial protocol interfaces 9015, 9016 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively. Further, Presence #1 and Presence #2 circuits 1041, 1042 are coupled to the presence interfaces 9017, 9018 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively.

The system 1001 allows the control circuit 1019, such as an FPGA, to communicate with more surgical instruments using adapter 1015, which acts as an expansion adapter device. According to various aspects, the adapter 1015 expands the Input/Output (I/O) capability of the generator 1003 control. The adapter 1015 may function as an extension of the central processing unit that allows commands to be transmitted over a bus between the adapter 1015 and the generator 1003 and unpacks the commands and use them to bit-bang over interfaces or to control connected analog circuit. The adapter 1015 also allows for reading in ADC values from connected surgical instruments 9007, 9008 and relay this information to the generator control and the generator control would then control the two surgical instruments 9007, 9008. According to various aspects, the generator 1003 may control the surgical instruments 9007, 9008 as two separate state machines and may store the data.

Existing interfaces (the handswitch serial interface 1011 and the handpiece serial interface 1013 lines from generator 1003) may be used in a two-wire communication protocol that enables the generator 1003 control to communicate with multiple surgical instruments connected to a dual port interface, similar to the topology of a universal serial bus (USB) hub. This allows interfacing with two separate surgical instruments simultaneously. The system 1001 may be able to generate and read hand switch waveforms and be able to handle incoming handpiece serial buses. It would also monitor two separate presence elements in the surgical instruments 9007, 9008. In one aspect, the system 1001 may include a unique presence element and may have its own NVM.

Further, according to various aspects, the control circuit 1019 may be controlled by the generator 1003. The communication between the adapter 1015 and connected surgical instruments 9007, 9008 may be relayed to generator control. The generator 1003 would control the waveform generation circuit connected to the adapter 1015 to simultaneously generate handswitch signals for surgical instruments 9007, 9008.

The system 1001 may allow surgical instrument activity that can be simultaneously detected/monitored for two surgical instruments, even during activation. If upgradeable, the adapter 1015 would be capable of handling new surgical instrument communications protocols. Further, fast switching between surgical instruments may be accomplished.

FIG. 11 illustrates a communication architecture of system 1101 of a generator 1103, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3), and surgical instruments 9007, 9008 shown in FIG. 9. According to FIG. 11, the generator 1103 is configured for delivering multiple energy modalities to a plurality of surgical instruments. As discussed herein the various energy modalities include, without limitation, ultrasonic, bipolar or monopolar RF, reversible and/or irreversible electroporation, and/or microwave energy modalities. As shown in FIG. 11, the generator 1103 comprises a combined energy modality power output 1105, an handswitch (HSW) serial interface 1111, a handpiece (HP) serial interface 1113, and a presence interface 1109. The generator 1103 provides the power output 1105 to an adapter 1115. According to the aspect shown in FIG. 11, communications between the adapter 1115 and the generator 1103 may be done solely through serial interfaces, such as the handswitch serial and handpiece serial interfaces 1111, 1113. The generator 1103 may use these handswitch and handpiece serial interfaces 1111, 1113 to control which instrument the generator 1103 is communicating with. Further, switching between instruments could occur between handswitch frames or at a much slower rate.

The adapter 1115 comprises energy storage circuit 1117, control circuit 1119, an adapter memory 1121 (e.g., a NV such as an EEPROM), a serial programmable input/output (PIO) integrated circuit 1133, an handswitch Switching Mechanism 1135, an handpiece Switching Mechanism 1137, a Presence Switching Mechanism 1139, and a Generic Adapter 1141. In one aspect, the serial PIO integrated circuit 1133 may be an addressable switch. The energy storage circuit 1117 comprises a switching mechanism 1123, energy storage device 1125, storage control component 1127, storage monitoring component 1129, and a device power monitoring component 1131. The control circuit 1119 may comprise a processor, FPGA, CPLD, PLD, microcontroller, DSP, and/or an ASIC, for example. According to the aspect of FIG. 11, an FPGA or microcontroller may have limited functionality and may solely comprise functionality for monitoring and communicating energy storage.

The switching mechanism 1123 is configured to receive the combined energy power output 1105 from the generator 1103 and it may be provided to the energy storage device 1125, surgical instrument 9007, and/or surgical instrument 9008. The device power monitoring component 1131 is coupled to the channels for the energy storage device 1125, surgical instrument 9007, surgical instrument 9008, and may monitor where power is flowing.

The control circuit 1119 is coupled to the serial PIO integrated circuit 1133 and the serial PIO integrated circuit 1133 is coupled to the handpiece serial interface 1113 of the generator 1103. The control circuit 1119 may receive information regarding charger status flags and switching controls from the serial PIO integrated circuit 1133. Further, the control circuit 1119 is coupled to the handswitch switching mechanism 1135, the handpiece switching mechanism 1137, and the presence switching mechanism 1139. According to the aspect of FIG. 11, the control circuit 1119 may be coupled to the handswitch (HSW) switching mechanism 1135 and the handpiece switching mechanism 1137 for device selection and the control circuit 1119 may be coupled to the presence switching Mechanism 1139 for presence selection.

The handswitch switching mechanism 1135, the handpiece switching mechanism 1137, and the presence switching mechanism 1139 are coupled to the handswitch serial interface 1111, the handpiece serial interface 1113, and the presence interface 1109 of generator 1103, respectively. Further, the handswitch switching mechanism 1135, the handpiece switching mechanism 1137, and the presence switching mechanism 1139 are coupled to the HSW 1-wire serial protocol interfaces 9013, 9014, the HP 1-wire serial protocol interfaces 9015, 9016, and the presence interfaces 9017, 9018 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively. Further, the presence switching mechanism 1139 is coupled to the generic adapter 1141.

The generator 1103 switches between monitoring the surgical instruments 9007, 9008. According to various aspects, this switching may require the generator 1103 control to keep track of surgical instruments 9007, 9008 and run two separate state machines. The control circuit 1119 will need to remember which surgical instruments are connected, so that it can output an appropriate waveform to the ports where appropriate. The generator 1103 may generate/monitor hand switch signals, as well as communicating with serial NVM devices, such adapter memory 1121. The generator 1103 may maintain constant communication with the activating surgical instrument for the duration of the activation.

System 1101 also allows for a generic adapter presence element. When first plugged in or powered on, the adapter 1115 would present this adapter resistance to the generator 1103. The generator 1103 may then relay commands to the adapter 1115 to switch between the different presence elements corresponding to the different surgical instruments 9007, 9008 connected to it. Accordingly, the generator 1103 is able to use its existing presence resistance circuit. The NVM memory 1121 exists on the adapter 1115 for additional identification of the adapter and to provide a level of security. In addition, the adapter 1115 has a serial I/O device, i.e. serial PIO integrated circuit 1133. The serial PIO integrated circuit 1133 provides a communication link between the generator 1103 and the adapter 1115.

It may be possible to communicate over the handpiece serial bus using serial communications to handpiece NVMs and UART style communication to the control circuit 1119. According to one aspect, if SLOW serial communication is used (i.e. not overdrive) and a high speed serial protocol is used, system 1101 may need to ensure that the communications protocol does not generate a signal that looked like a serial reset pulse. This would allow better generator 1103 to adapter 1115 communications and faster switching times between surgical instruments 9007, 9008.

The system 1101 uses generator communications protocol and analog circuit and allows the generator to accomplish decision making. It is a simple and efficient solution that uses a small number of circuit devices.

FIG. 12 illustrates a communications architecture of system 1201 of a generator 1203, which is one form of the generator 100 (FIGS. 1-3), and surgical instruments 9007, 9008 shown in FIG. 9. According to FIG. 12, the generator 1203 is configured for delivering multiple energy modalities to a plurality of surgical instruments. As discussed herein the various energy modalities include, without limitation, ultrasonic, bipolar or monopolar RF, reversible and/or irreversible electroporation, and/or microwave energy modalities. As shown in FIG. 12, the generator 1203 comprises a combined energy modality power output 1205, an handswitch serial interface 1211, an handpiece serial interface 1213, and a presence interface 1209. In one aspect, the handpiece serial interface 1213 allows for communication with the handpiece lines of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008 and also allows for control of the adapter 1215. The generator 1203 provides the combined energy modality power output 1205 to an adapter 1215. The adapter 1215 comprises energy storage circuit 1217, control circuit 1219, a serial PIO integrated circuit 1233, handswitch (HSW) #1 circuit 1231, handswitch (HSW) #2 circuit 1271, handpiece switching mechanism 1221, presence switching mechanism 1239, switching mechanism 1235, instrument power monitoring 1237, and unique presence 1241. As shown in FIG. 12, the handswitch #1 circuit 1231 and the handswitch #2 circuit 1271 may comprise generation and ADC circuits. In one aspect, handswitch #1 circuit 1231 and/or handswitch #2 circuit 1271 comprise generation circuit with the ability to generate handswitch waveforms.

The control circuit 1219 is coupled to the handswitch serial interface 1211 of the generator 1203 while the serial PIO integrated circuit 1233 is coupled to the handpiece serial interface 1213 as is the handpiece switching mechanism 1221. Further, the control circuit 1119 is coupled to the handswitch #1 circuit 1231 and the handswitch #2 circuit 1271. The control circuit 1119 may comprise a processor, FPGA, CPLD, PLD, microcontroller, and/or ASIC, for example. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the control circuit 1219 modulates two devices into at least one digital waveform, which enable the generator 1203 to perform the button monitoring and decision making. The control circuit 1219 also may allow for communication to two independent surgical instruments could receive either waveform. The serial PIO integrated circuit 1233 is further coupled to the handpiece switching mechanism 1221, the instrument power monitoring 1237, and the presence switching mechanism 1239. The instrument power monitoring 1237 and the serial PIO integrated circuit 1233 may communicate results and failures to the generator 1203.

The switching mechanism 1223 is configured to receive the combined RF/ultrasonic power output 1205 from the generator 1203 and it may be provided to the energy storage circuit 1225 or the switching mechanism 1235. The control circuit 1219 is also coupled to the storage control 1227 and storage monitoring 1229 of the energy storage circuit 1217. The switching mechanism 1235 may provide the power output received from the switching mechanism 1223 to surgical instrument 9007, and/or surgical instrument 9008. The instrument power monitoring 1237 is coupled to the channels for the power output to the surgical instrument 9007 and surgical instrument 9008. The instrument power monitoring 1237 also may ensure that the switching mechanism 1235 is outputting power to correct location.

The handswitch #1 circuit 1231 and the handswitch #2 circuit 1271 are coupled to the HSW 1-wire serial protocol interfaces 9013, 9014 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively. The handpiece switching mechanism 1221 is coupled to the handpiece serial interface 1213 of the generator 1203 and to the HP 1-wire serial protocol interfaces 9015, 9016 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively. Further, the presence switching mechanism 1239 is coupled to the presence interface 1209 of the generator 1203 and to the presence Interfaces 9017, 9018 of the surgical instruments 9007, 9008, respectively. Further, Presence Switching mechanism is coupled to the unique presence 1241. In one aspect, different instrument presence elements may be switched on an on-demand basis using serial I/O or an adapter micro protocol.

A first communications protocol will be used to communicate to the control circuit 1219 on the adapter 1215. The generator 1203 also may have the ability to monitor surgical instruments 9007, 9008 at once. The adapter 1215 may comprise circuit to provide handswitch signal generation (e.g., in handswitch #1 circuit 1231 and handswitch #2 circuit 1271) along with ADCs to interpret this data. The adapter 1215 may modulate two surgical instrument signals into at least a first waveform and may have the ability to read in the first and second waveforms. In various aspects, the second waveforms may be interpreted and translated into the format of the first waveforms. Further, the first protocol has the ability to send 12 bits at 615 bits/sec.

The control circuit 1219 may take the handswitch data from surgical instruments 9007, 9008 and modulate it into a first protocol. There are a few ways of doing this, but it may mean that surgical instruments 9007, 9008 may comprise a first protocol functionality. The system 1201 could communicate 4-6 buttons from the surgical instrument 9007 and 4-6 buttons from the surgical instrument 9008 in the first protocol frame. Alternatively, the system 1201 could use some form of addressing to access the surgical instruments 9007, 9008. The control circuit 1219 may have the ability to address separate devices by having the generator 1203 send the control circuit 1219 different addresses split into two different address spaces, one for surgical instrument 9007 and one for surgical instrument 9008.

The handpiece communications may involve some form of switch that could either be controlled via a serial I/O device or through the control circuit 1219 via a first protocol style communication interface from the generator 1203. In one aspect, energy storage monitoring 1229 and switching between surgical instruments 9007, 9008 and charging states could be handled in this manner as well. Certain first protocol addresses could be assigned to the data from the energy storage circuit 1225 and to the surgical instruments 9007, 9008 themselves. Presence elements could also be switched in with this format. Further, in one aspect, the control circuit 1219 may translate frames into a separate format, which may mean that the control circuit 1219 might need to make some decisions on whether button presses on surgical instruments 9007, 9008 are valid or not. The system 1201 would, however, allow the generator 1203 to fully monitor the surgical instruments 9007, 9008 at the same time time-slicing or handling a new communications protocol on the handswitch serial interface 1211 of the generator 1203. The system 1201 uses generator communications to simultaneously detect the activity of two surgical instruments, even during activation.

As noted above, a single output generator can deliver both RF and ultrasonic energy through a single port and these signals can be delivered separately or simultaneously to the end effector to treat tissue. One aspect of a combined RF and ultrasonic generator is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a single output port generator can include a single output transformer with multiple taps to provide power, either RF or ultrasonic energy, to the end effector depending on the type of treatment of tissue being performed. For example, the generator can deliver energy with higher voltage and lower current to drive an ultrasonic transducer, with lower voltage and higher current as required to drive electrodes for sealing tissue, or with a coagulation waveform for spot coagulation using either monopolar or bipolar electrosurgical electrodes. The output waveform from the generator can be steered, switched, or filtered to provide the desired frequency to the end effector of the surgical instrument.

The surgical instruments described herein can also include features to allow the energy being delivered by the generator to be dynamically changed based on the type of tissue being treated by an end effector of a surgical instrument. An algorithm for controlling the power output from a generator, such as generator 100, that is delivered to the end effector of the surgical instrument can include an input that represents the tissue type to allow the energy profile from the generator to be dynamically changed during the procedure based on the type of tissue being effected by the end effector of the surgical instrument.

Various algorithms can be used to select a power profile to allow the energy being delivered from the generator to dynamically change based on the tissue type being treated by the surgical instrument.

In order to determine the type of tissue being treated by the end effector of the surgical instrument, a tissue coefficient of friction can be calculated. The calculated tissue coefficient of friction is compared to a database of tissue coefficients of friction that correlates each tissue coefficient with a tissue type, as will be discussed in more detail below. The calculated tissue coefficient of friction and its related tissue type are used by an algorithm to control the energy being delivered from the generator to the surgical instrument. In one form, the tissue coefficient of friction is described by:

$\mu = \frac{Q}{\vartheta \cdot N}$

Where Q is the rate of heat generation, φ is the velocity of the ultrasonic motion of the end effector, and N is the force applied to the tissue by the end effector. The velocity of the ultrasonic motion is a known value from the settings of the generator. Since the value 19 is a known value, the tissue coefficient of friction can be calculated using the slope of a graph of heat generation versus force on the tissue.

The force applied to the tissue by the end effector can be measured in a variety of ways using different type of components to measure force. This force measurement can be used, for example in the equation above, to determine the tissue coefficient of friction of the tissue being treated to determine its tissue type.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, certain filters, switching, etc. will be required to steer the components of an ultrasonic signal to the transducer and the components of an RF signal to the electrodes in a combination device. This is true when RF and ultrasonic signals are occurring simultaneously. The steering circuits may have sensitivity to component variations. According to aspects of the present disclosure, a way of optimizing such steering circuits is to provide a “tune” where values are adjusted to provide the best performance or at least a reasonable compromise of the performance of the steering circuits. Steering may be performed using various filters and/or switches. For example, band-stop filters or notch filters may be used.

Another way is to adjust the output frequency of the ultrasonic and/or RF output such that the performance of the steering circuitry is optimized. According to aspects of the present disclosure, generator systems may have the capability of frequency agility. Frequency agility may include the generators' ability to produce various frequencies, and the time it takes to change the frequency, due to the system design. At least one Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS) of a generator may drive what is essentially a linear amplifier. The output of the amplifier is coupled to a transformer which then provides the treatment energy output for the surgical instrument. The RF treatment is quite insensitive to frequency; the tissue's response to RF energy is nearly independent of the driving frequency. According to aspects of the present disclosure, tissue response to RF energy over a range of, for example, 250-500 kHz, is nearly independent of the driving frequency of the RF energy.

In addition, the steering circuitry can be characterized during the manufacturing process. This characterization can include the best operating frequency points for an individual steering circuit. The characterization information can be stored in an instrument's EEPROM or other suitable location and a generator can then drive the RF energy at one or more of the best operating frequency points.

The steering circuitry can also be characterized when the device is connected to the generator. For example, during the initial connection of the instrument to a generator, the surgical instrument can be characterized. If the surgical instrument is reusable, this characterization can be stored for future use. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the characterization may continue during the use of the surgical instrument either in-between firings or during firings. The components may change values depending on their temperature, aging, etc. and periodic re-characterization of a surgical instrument filter and steering may provide benefits.

Characterizing a surgical instrument can be accomplished by several methods. In one aspect, the method would include sending a ping signal to the steering circuitry and measuring a response from the steering circuitry. This response contains information that defines the frequency response of the steering circuitry. The RF frequency may then be adjusted to match the appropriate point or points along the frequency response.

An ultrasound transducer may be sensitive to changes in frequency. Therefore, one or more variable components may be provided, so that the frequency of the ultrasonic component does not need to be changed even when circuit characteristics are changed. For example, a variable capacitor or a variable inductor in a band-stop filter may be provided.

Additionally, according to aspects of the present disclosure, a steering filter for an RF energy component of a combination surgical device may be made with looser tolerances and the output frequency of the generator can be changed to tune the RF steering filter of the RF energy component.

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method 1300 for providing a combined signal by a generator to a surgical instrument. The combined signal may comprise a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component. The surgical instrument may comprise an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, and a circuit. The circuit may be a steering circuitry.

Characterization is performed 1310 on at least one component of the circuit. A frequency of the RF component is adjusted 1320 based on a result of the characterization. The generator delivers 1330 the combined signal to the surgical instrument. The circuit steers 1340 the RF component to the RF energy output, and steers 1350 the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output.

FIG. 14 displays an example of a notch filter 1400 and FIG. 15 provides an analysis of the transfer function of the notch filter 1400. A Monte Carlo analysis was run with the tolerances of the capacitor 1401 and inductor 1402 set to 5%. According to plot shown in FIG. 15, variations in the response of the filter 1400 can be seen. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the frequency of the output of a generator can be adjusted to fit the response of the filter 1400.

FIG. 16 shows a plot illustrating adjustment of the RF frequency based on characterization of the steering circuitry. As shown in FIG. 16, a notch filter in the steering circuitry may have a frequency response described by waveform 1610 when manufactured. But when conditions such as temperature and aging change, the filter's frequency response may be changed to look like waveform 1620. In this case, the generator may change the frequency of the RF component from about 340 KHz to about 310 KHz. Therefore, the RF component can always be filtered out for the ultrasonic output.

FIGS. 17 and 18 provide illustration of system configuration for an example circuit topology shown and described with regard to FIGS. 13-16 The system configuration comprises a plurality sections, where the plurality of sections include a generator (labeled GENERATOR), a proximal plug (labeled PLUG 1), a cable, a distal plug (labeled PLUG 2), a handle of a surgical instrument, and an application portion (labeled APP) of a surgical instrument. According to various aspects, the proximal plug may be a component of the generator, it may be a component of cable, or it may be separate component. Similarly, the distal plug may be a component of the cable, it may be a component of handle, or it may be separate component.

FIG. 17 provides an illustration of a system 6600 configuration for an example circuit topology shown and described with regard to FIGS. 13-16, including MOSFET switches and a control circuit in the handle, configured to manage RF and ultrasonic currents output by a generator according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The system 6600 includes electro-mechanical or solid state switches such as MOSFET switches and a control circuit in the handle. The generator comprises interfaces for an ultrasonic signal 6601, an interface for an RF signal 6603, a primary return terminal interface 6605, an HSW interface 6607, a secondary return terminal interface 6609, an identification interface 6611, and a presence interface 6613. The proximal plug comprises matching interfaces to those of generator, an EEPROM 6617, and presence resistor 6619. The proximal plug outputs are carried through the cable and the distal plug to the handle without any component circuitry in either the cable or the distal plug. The handle comprises the MOSFET switches 6615 that are each coupled to rectifier circuits 6621, which are each coupled to a pair of coupling inductors 6623, also in the handle. The rectifier circuits 6621 each comprise at least one diode and at least one capacitor. The control circuit 6627 (e.g., ASIC) is coupled to a driver circuit 6625 that feeds the coupling inductors 6623 and the rectifier circuits 6621 to control the state of the MOSFET switches 6615. The driver circuit 6625 and control circuit 6627 are located in the handle. The handle further comprises resonator 6629, diode and capacitor circuits 6631, EEPROM 6635, and switch array 6637. The switch array 6637 may comprise electro-mechanical devices, transistor devices, and the like. The transistor devices may include bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), FETs, MOSFETs, or a combination thereof. The rectifier portion of the diode and capacitor circuit 6631 is coupled to the HSW interface 6607 and the secondary return terminal interface 6609 of the generator and feed into control circuit 6627.

The application portion comprises EEPROM 6639, presence resistor 6641, and outputs for RF and ultrasonic energy 6643, 6645, respectively. EEPROM 6639 and presence resistor 6241 are coupled to control circuit 6627. The system 6600 allows switching between an RF mode and an ultrasonic mode and allows for a low cost cable configuration.

FIG. 18 provides an illustration of a system 6900 configuration for an example circuit topology shown and described with regard to FIGS. 13-16, including bandstop filters and a control circuit in the handle, configured to manage RF and ultrasonic currents output by a generator according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The system 6900 includes bandstop filters and a control circuit in the handle. The generator comprises interfaces for an ultrasonic signal 6901, an interface for an RF signal 6903, a primary return terminal interface 6905, an HSW interface 6907, a secondary return terminal interface 6909, an identification interface 6911, and a presence interface 6913. The proximal plug comprises matching interfaces to those of generator, an EEPROM 6917, and presence resistor 6919. The proximal plug outputs are carried through the cable and distal plug without any component circuitry in either the cable or the distal plug. The handle comprises a pair of bandstop filters 6915, rectifier circuit 6931, EEPROM 6935, control circuit 6927, switch array 6937, and resonator 6929. Rectifier circuit 6931 comprises at least one diode and at least one capacitor. Control circuit 6927 is coupled to EEPROM 6935, switch array 6937, and rectifier circuit 6931. The switch array 6937 may comprise electro-mechanical devices, transistor devices, and the like. The transistor devices may include bipolar junction transistors (BJT), FETs, MOSFETs, or a combination thereof.

The application portion comprises EEPROM 6939, presence resistor 6941, and outputs for RF and ultrasonic energy 6943, 6945, respectively. The pair of bandstop filters 6915 are coupled to the outputs for RF and ultrasonic energy 6943, 6945. EEPROM 6939 and presence resistor 6941 are coupled to control circuit 6927. The system 6900 allows switching between an RF mode and an ultrasonic mode and supports mixed output frequencies, which allows tissues impedance sensing while the ultrasonic output is active. It also provides for a low cost cable configuration.

Examples of waveforms representing energy for delivery from a generator are illustrated in FIGS. 19-23. FIG. 19 illustrates an example graph 600 showing first and second individual waveforms representing an RF output signal 602 and an ultrasonic output signal 604 superimposed on the same time and voltage scale for comparison purposes. These output signals 602, 604 are provided at the ENERGY output of the generator 100. Time (t) is shown along the horizontal axis and voltage (V) is shown along the vertical axis. The RF output signal 602 has a frequency of about 330 kHz RF and a peak-to-peak voltage of ±1V. The ultrasonic output signal 604 has a frequency of about 55 kHz and a peak-to-peak voltage of ±1V. It will be appreciated that the time (t) scale along the horizontal axis and the voltage (V) scale along the vertical axis are normalized for comparison purposes and may be different actual implementations, or represent other electrical parameters such as current.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example graph 610 showing the sum of the two output signals 602, 604 shown in FIG. 19. Time (t) is shown along the horizontal axis and voltage (V) is shown along the vertical axis. The sum of the RF output signal 602 and the ultrasonic output signal 604 shown in FIG. 19 produces a combined output signal 612 having a 2V peak-to-peak voltage, which is twice the amplitude of the original RF and ultrasonic signals shown (1V peak-to-peak) shown in FIG. 19. An amplitude of twice the original amplitude can cause problems with the output section of the generator, such as distortion, saturation, clipping of the output, or stresses on the output components. Thus, the management of a single combined output signal 612 that has multiple treatment components is an important aspect of the generator 500 shown in FIG. 8. There are a variety of ways to achieve this management. In one form, one of the two RF or ultrasonic output signals 602, 604 can be dependent on the peaks of the other output signal. In one aspect, the RF output signal 602 may depend on the peaks of the ultrasonic signal 604, such that the output is reduced when a peak is anticipated. Such a function and resulting waveform is shown in FIG. 21.

For example, FIG. 21 illustrates an example graph 620 showing a combined output signal 622 representative of a dependent sum of the output signals 602, 604 shown in FIG. 19. Time (t) is shown along the horizontal axis and voltage (V) is shown along the vertical axis. As shown in FIG. 19, the RF output signal 602 component of FIG. 19 depends on the peaks of the ultrasonic output signal 604 component of FIG. 19 such that the amplitude of the RF output signal component of the dependent sum combined output signal 622 is reduced when an ultrasonic peak is anticipated. As shown in the example graph 620 in FIG. 19, the peaks have been reduced from 2 to 1.5. In another form, one of the output signals is a function of the other output signal.

For example, FIG. 22 illustrates an example graph of an analog waveform 630 showing an output signal 632 representative of a dependent sum of the output signals 602, 604 shown in FIG. 19. Time (t) is shown along the horizontal axis and voltage (V) is shown along the vertical axis. As shown in FIG. 22, the RF output signal 602 is a function of the ultrasonic output signal 604. This provides a hard limit on the amplitude of the output. As shown in FIG. 22, the ultrasonic output signal 604 is extractable as a sine wave while the RF output signal 602 has distortion but not in a way to affect the coagulation performance of the RF output signal 602.

A variety of other techniques can be used for compressing and/or limiting the waveforms of the output signals. It should be noted that the integrity of the ultrasonic output signal 604 (FIG. 19) can be more important than the integrity of the RF output signal 602 (FIG. 19) as long as the RF output signal 602 has low frequency components for safe patient levels so as to avoid neuro-muscular stimulation. In another form, the frequency of an RF waveform can be changed on a continuous basis in order to manage the peaks of the waveform. Waveform control is important as more complex RF waveforms, such as a coagulation-type waveform 642, as illustrated in the graph 640 shown in FIG. 23, are implemented with the system. Again, time (t) is shown along the horizontal axis and voltage (V) is shown along the vertical axis. The coagulation-type waveform 642 illustrated in FIG. 23 has a crest factor of 5.8, for example.

While various details have been set forth in the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the various aspects of the serial communication protocol for medical device may be practiced without these specific details. For example, for conciseness and clarity selected aspects have been shown in block diagram form rather than in detail. Some portions of the detailed descriptions provided herein may be presented in terms of instructions that operate on data that is stored in a computer memory. Such descriptions and representations are used by those skilled in the art to describe and convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. In general, an algorithm refers to a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result, where a “step” refers to a manipulation of physical quantities which may, though need not necessarily, take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It is common usage to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. These and similar terms may be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the foregoing discussion, it is appreciated that, throughout the foregoing description, discussions using terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

It is worthy to note that any reference to “one aspect,” “an aspect,” “one form,” or “an form” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect is included in at least one aspect. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one aspect,” “in an aspect,” “in one form,” or “in an form” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more aspects.

Some aspects may be described using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. For example, some aspects may be described using the term “connected” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. In another example, some aspects may be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term “coupled,” however, also may mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

It is worthy to note that any reference to “one aspect,” “an aspect,” “one form,” or “an form” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect is included in at least one aspect. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one aspect,” “in an aspect,” “in one form,” or “in an form” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more aspects.

Although various forms have been described herein, many modifications, variations, substitutions, changes, and equivalents to those forms may be implemented and will occur to those skilled in the art. Also, where materials are disclosed for certain components, other materials may be used. It is therefore to be understood that the foregoing description and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and variations as falling within the scope of the disclosed forms. The following claims are intended to cover all such modification and variations.

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects described herein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various types of “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electrical circuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that the subject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combination thereof.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various forms of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one form, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the forms disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative form of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter, receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.), etc.).

All of the above-mentioned U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications, non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in any Application Data Sheet, or any other disclosure material are incorporated herein by reference, to the extent not inconsistent herewith. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein described components (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the discussion accompanying them are used as examples for the sake of conceptual clarity and that various configuration modifications are contemplated. Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars set forth and the accompanying discussion are intended to be representative of their more general classes. In general, use of any specific exemplar is intended to be representative of its class, and the non-inclusion of specific components (e.g., operations), devices, and objects should not be taken limiting.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely example, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected,” or “operably coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components, and/or wirelessly interactable, and/or wirelessly interacting components, and/or logically interacting, and/or logically interactable components.

In some instances, one or more components may be referred to herein as “configured to,” “configurable to,” “operable/operative to,” “adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc. Those skilled in the art will recognize that “configured to” can generally encompass active-state components and/or inactive-state components and/or standby-state components, unless context requires otherwise.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the scope of the subject matter described herein. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to claims containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms unless context dictates otherwise. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be typically understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art will appreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed in any order. Also, although various operational flows are presented in a sequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may be performed in other orders than those which are illustrated, or may be performed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may include overlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental, preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variant orderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like “responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives are generally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictates otherwise.

In certain cases, use of a system or method may occur in a territory even if components are located outside the territory. For example, in a distributed computing context, use of a distributed computing system may occur in a territory even though parts of the system may be located outside of the territory (e.g., relay, server, processor, signal-bearing medium, transmitting computer, receiving computer, etc. located outside the territory).

A sale of a system or method may likewise occur in a territory even if components of the system or method are located and/or used outside the territory. Further, implementation of at least part of a system for performing a method in one territory does not preclude use of the system in another territory.

Although various forms have been described herein, many modifications, variations, substitutions, changes, and equivalents to those forms may be implemented and will occur to those skilled in the art. Also, where materials are disclosed for certain components, other materials may be used. It is therefore to be understood that the foregoing description and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and variations as falling within the scope of the disclosed forms. The following claims are intended to cover all such modification and variations.

In summary, numerous benefits have been described which result from employing the concepts described herein. The foregoing description of the one or more forms has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The one or more forms were chosen and described in order to illustrate principles and practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the various forms and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the claims submitted herewith define the overall scope.

While several forms have been illustrated and described, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Numerous variations, changes, and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, the structure of each element associated with the described forms can be alternatively described as a means for providing the function performed by the element. Accordingly, it is intended that the described forms be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Reference throughout the specification to “various forms,” “some forms,” “one form,” or “an form” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the form is included in at least one form. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various forms,” “in some forms,” “in one form,” or “in an form” in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same form. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more forms. Thus, the particular features, structures, or characteristics illustrated or described in connection with one form may be combined, in whole or in part, with the features structures, or characteristics of one or more other forms without limitation.

Various aspects of the subject matter described herein are set out in the following numbered clauses:

1. A system for managing RF and ultrasonic signals output by a generator, comprising: a surgical instrument comprising an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, and a circuit configured to receive a combined Radio Frequency (RF) and ultrasonic signal from the generator; wherein the circuit is configured to filter frequency content of the combined signal and is configured to provide a first filtered signal to the RF energy output and a second filtered signal to the ultrasonic energy output.

2. The system of clause 1, wherein the circuit comprises a resonator.

3. The system of clause 1 or 2, wherein the circuit comprises a high frequency band-stop filter.

4. The system of any one of clauses 1-3, wherein the high frequency band-stop filter comprises a first LC filter circuit and a second LC filter circuit.

5. The system of any one of clauses 1-4, wherein the combined signal comprises a 350 kHz component.

6. The system of any one of clauses 1-5, wherein the combined signal comprises a 55 kHz component.

7. The system of any one of clauses 1-6, wherein the surgical instrument is configured to apply a therapy from the RF energy output and the ultrasonic energy output simultaneously.

8. A system for managing RF and ultrasonic signals output by a generator, comprising: a surgical instrument comprising an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, and a circuit configured to receive a combined Radio Frequency (RF) and ultrasonic signal from the generator; wherein the circuit is configured to switch between the RF energy output and the ultrasonic energy output according to the combined signal received from the generator.

9. The system of clause 8, wherein the circuit comprises two pairs of MOSFET switches.

10. The system of clause 9, wherein each of the two pairs of MOSFET switches is connected source to source.

11. The system of clause 9 or 10, further comprising a first coupled inductor and a second coupled inductor.

12. The system of clause 11, wherein the gate of each MOSFET of a first pair of MOSFET switches is coupled together and is coupled to the first coupled inductor.

13. The system of clause 11 or 12, wherein the gate of each MOSFET of a second pair of MOSFET switches is coupled together and is coupled to the second coupled inductor.

14. The system of any one of clauses 11-13, further comprising a first capacitor and a second capacitor, wherein the first capacitor is coupled to the primary side of the first coupled inductor and the second capacitor is coupled to the primary side of the second coupled inductor.

15. The system of any one of clauses 9-14, further comprising an ASIC, a first pulse transformer, and a second pulse transformer, wherein the ASIC is coupled to the first and second pulse transformers, and wherein the first pulse transformer is coupled to a first pair of the two pairs of MOSFET switches and the second pulse transformer is coupled to a second pair of the two pairs of MOSFET switches.

16. The system of clause 15, wherein each of the two pairs of MOSFET switches are connected source to source.

17. The system of clause 16, wherein the gate of each MOSFET of the first pair of MOSFET switches is coupled together and is coupled to the first pulse transformer.

18. The system of clause 16 or 17, wherein the gate of each MOSFET of a second pair of MOSFET switches is coupled together and is coupled to the second pulse transformer.

19. The system of clause 18, wherein the circuit comprises a first switching element coupled to the RF energy output and a second switching element coupled to the ultrasonic energy output.

20. The system of clause 19, wherein the first switching element and the second switching element are each electromechanical relays.

21. The system of clause 19 or 20, wherein the first switching element and the second switching element are coupled to an ASIC.

22. The system of any one of clauses 19-21, further comprising a switch mechanism to actuate the first switching element and the second switching element.

23. The system of clause 22, wherein the switch mechanism is a mechanical rocker style switch mechanism.

24. A system for managing RF and ultrasonic signals output by a generator, comprising: a surgical instrument comprising an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, and a circuit configured to receive a combined Radio Frequency (RF) and ultrasonic signal from the generator; wherein the circuit comprises: a filter circuit configured to filter frequency content of the combined signal; and a switching element configured to switch between an on-state and an off-state to one of the RF energy output or the ultrasonic energy output according to the combined signal received from the generator.

25. The system of clause 24, wherein the filter circuit is coupled to the ultrasonic energy output and the switching element is coupled to the RF energy output.

26. A system comprising a generator and a surgical instrument, wherein the generator is configured to deliver a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to the surgical instrument; and the surgical instrument comprises: an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, a circuit configured to steer the RF component to the RF energy output and steer the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output, wherein the generator is configured to adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a characterization of a circuit component of the circuit.

27. The system of clause 26, wherein the circuit component comprises a band-stop filter.

28. The system of clause 26 or 27, wherein the circuit further comprises a variable component.

29. The system of any one of clauses 26-28, wherein the characterization of the circuit component comprises sending a ping signal to the circuit component.

30. The system of any one of clauses 26-29, wherein a result of the characterization is stored in the surgical instrument.

31. The system of any one of clauses 26-30, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is manufactured.

32. The system of any one of clauses 26-31, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is connected to the generator.

33. The system of any one of clauses 26-32, wherein the characterization is performed after the surgical instrument delivers energy to a tissue.

34. The system of any one of clauses 26-33, wherein the characterization is performed while the surgical instrument is delivering energy to a tissue.

35. The system of any one of clauses 26-34, wherein the characterization is performed periodically.

36. A method for providing a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component by a generator to a surgical instrument, the surgical instrument comprising an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output and a circuit, the method comprising: performing characterization on a circuit component of the circuit; adjusting a frequency of the RF component based on a result of the characterization; delivering, by the generator, the combined signal to the surgical instrument; steering, by the circuit, the RF component to the RF energy output; and steering, by the circuit, the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output.

37. The method of clause 36, wherein the circuit component comprises a band-stop filter.

38. The method of clause 36 or 37, wherein the circuit further comprises a variable component.

39. The method of any one of clauses 36-38, wherein performing characterization on the circuit component comprises sending a ping signal to the circuit component.

40. The method of any one of clauses 36-39, further comprising storing a result of the characterization in the surgical instrument.

41. The method of any one of clauses 36-40, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is manufactured.

42. The method of any one of clauses 36-41, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is connected to the generator.

43. The method of any one of clauses 36-42, wherein the characterization is performed after the surgical instrument delivers energy to a tissue.

44. The method of any one of clauses 36-43, wherein the characterization is performed while the surgical instrument is delivering energy to a tissue.

45. A generator for providing a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to a surgical instrument, the generator being configured to: perform characterization on a circuit component of a circuit of the surgical instrument for steering the RF component to an RF output and steering the ultrasonic component to an ultrasonic output; adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a result of the characterization; and deliver the combined signal to the surgical instrument. 

1. A system comprising a generator and a surgical instrument, wherein the generator is configured to deliver a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to the surgical instrument; and the surgical instrument comprises: an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output, a circuit configured to steer the RF component to the RF energy output and steer the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output, wherein the generator is configured to adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a characterization of a circuit component of the circuit.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuit component comprises a band-stop filter.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuit further comprises a variable component.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the characterization of the circuit component comprises sending a ping signal to the circuit component.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein a result of the characterization is stored in the surgical instrument.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is manufactured.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is connected to the generator.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the characterization is performed after the surgical instrument delivers energy to a tissue.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the characterization is performed while the surgical instrument is delivering energy to a tissue.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the characterization is performed periodically.
 11. A method for providing a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component by a generator to a surgical instrument, the surgical instrument comprising an RF energy output, an ultrasonic energy output and a circuit, the method comprising: performing characterization on a circuit component of the circuit; adjusting a frequency of the RF component based on a result of the characterization; delivering, by the generator, the combined signal to the surgical instrument; steering, by the circuit, the RF component to the RF energy output; and steering, by the circuit, the ultrasonic component to the ultrasonic energy output.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the circuit component comprises a band-stop filter.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the circuit further comprises a variable component.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein performing characterization on the circuit component comprises sending a ping signal to the circuit component.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising storing a result of the characterization in the surgical instrument.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is manufactured.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the characterization is performed when the surgical instrument is connected to the generator.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the characterization is performed after the surgical instrument delivers energy to a tissue.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the characterization is performed while the surgical instrument is delivering energy to a tissue.
 20. A generator for providing a combined signal comprising a radio frequency (RF) component and an ultrasonic component to a surgical instrument, the generator being configured to: perform characterization on a circuit component of a circuit of the surgical instrument for steering the RF component to an RF output and steering the ultrasonic component to an ultrasonic output; adjust a frequency of the RF component based on a result of the characterization; and deliver the combined signal to the surgical instrument. 